What is the 25th Amendment and how does it work?

The 25th Amendment was ratified on February 10, 1967, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy exposed gaps in the presidential succession framework. It has four sections that address four distinct scenarios.

Section 1 states that the vice president becomes president if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office. This codified existing practice - John Tyler had established the precedent in 1841 - but finally put it in writing in the Constitution.

Section 2 provides a mechanism to fill a vacant Vice Presidency. The president nominates a new VP, who takes office after confirmation by a majority vote of both the House and Senate. This provision has been used twice: Gerald Ford was confirmed as VP in December 1973 after Spiro Agnew resigned, and Nelson Rockefeller was confirmed as VP in December 1974 after Ford became president following Nixon's resignation.

Section 3 allows the president to voluntarily transfer power to the vice president while temporarily unable to perform duties - for example, during surgery. Several presidents have used Section 3: Ronald Reagan transferred power briefly in 1985 during surgery; George W. Bush did so in 2002 and 2007 for medical procedures; Joe Biden transferred power in November 2021 during a colonoscopy.

Section 4 is the most dramatic and most discussed provision. It allows the vice president and a majority of the cabinet to declare in writing that the president is unable to perform the duties of office. If the president contests this, Congress must decide by a two-thirds vote of both chambers whether to sustain the finding. Section 4 has never been formally invoked.