No Plans for Pence to Take Over Trump’s Duties

“President Trump remains on the job despite his hospitalization for covid-19 and there are no plans for Vice President Pence to assume even temporary authority as president, the first full day of Trump’s inpatient treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,” the Washington Post reports.

“Under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, Pence would assume the full authority of the presidency if Trump were to die or become unable to perform his duties. But although the amendment, ratified in 1967, was intended to clear up ambiguities in the original 18th-century document, it is not clear what exactly constitutes being incapacitated, and language about who makes that call has never been tested.”