S8 Ep728: 16. Professor Richard Epstein: Professor Richard Epstein discusses the 25th Amendment’s fourth section regarding presidential disability and succession. He outlines the complex cabinet deliberation process required to elevate a vice president and the
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2026
⏱️ 5 minutes
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| 0:48.6 | We turn from birthright citizenship, which remains extremely controversial, |
| 0:53.5 | and will again dominate the news when the Supreme Court |
| 0:56.9 | renders a decision sometime this summer. So the 25th Amendment that is not controversial because it's |
| 1:03.0 | mentioned everywhere. What is it? It's a document that was created after the death of the |
| 1:10.2 | President of the United States, John Kennedy, |
| 1:13.0 | when there was a period in which there was no vice president for some days, |
| 1:18.3 | then there was an election and all was well. |
| 1:20.3 | However, what we have now is the need to apply the fourth section of the 25th Amendment. |
| 1:28.1 | 25th Amendment, the Constitution addresses presidential succession and disability. |
| 1:34.2 | Section 4, quote, enables the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the President unable to discharge powers, |
| 1:42.4 | temporarily elevating the Vice president to acting president. |
| 1:46.6 | Professor, this is always coming up now in opposition to Mr. Trump's remarks and conduct. |
| 1:55.6 | It seems far-fetched, almost science fiction. |
| 1:58.7 | Is that the way to regard it, that the cabinet chosen by Mr. |
| 2:02.2 | Trump would vote in some fashion to deprive him of the presidency? |
| 2:08.5 | Well, the amendment was drafted in exactly that fashion in order to make sure that it could not |
| 2:13.9 | be done easily for political meetings by people worthy of the political party. |
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