# 6 January 2021; A Day worth a Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 6, 2021, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770 "2021-01-06T04:30:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 57
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1123 "2021-01-07T03:39:59Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > that is the second time today I have heard this. Doesn’t the amendment say “immediately removed from office”? There is a process to get there with multiple steps. Just read the wikipedia article. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1124 "2021-01-07T03:40:53Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > that is the second time today I have heard this. Doesn’t the amendment say “immediately removed from office”? Yes, but it requires the VP to get together with the Cabinet, get a majority there, and then send written communication to the Speaker and President pro tempore. > Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. It might not take days, but it would take a bit of time. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1125 "2021-01-07T03:40:58Z")
I suppose it could be done in one day if it’s really well organized. But yes, Art. XXV has to be invoked explicitly and in writing and reported to Congress, otherwise what you have is a state of civil mutiny. But what may be happening is a subtler move, an invocation of the Schlesinger maneuver – if the Boss sends down an order that scares you, check with someone above your pay grade before proceeding. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1126 "2021-01-07T03:41:28Z")
ABC News is speculating on whether acting members of the Cabinet can vote on the 25th Amendment. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1127 "2021-01-07T03:41:31Z")
Yeah…but they could do it in an evening if they were of a mind to. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1128 "2021-01-07T03:43:04Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > I suppose it could be done in one day if it’s really well organized. But yes, Art. XXV has to be invoked explicitly and in writing and reported to Congress, otherwise what you have is a state of civil mutiny. Fair enough but the main point still stands. It hasn’t happened (yet) and it couldn’t be done in secret. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1129 "2021-01-07T03:44:08Z")
So apparently while insurgents were rampaging through the Capitol and a woman was killed, Cruz’s campaign [sent out fundraising text and email messages](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/06/ted-cruz-trump-capitol/) this afternoon that, “I’m leading the fight to reject electors from key states unless there is an emergency audit of the election results." Classy, Ted. Real classy. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1130 "2021-01-07T03:44:56Z")
Yes. If they are all there together, they could hand deliver the written notice But I don’t see it happenening but what the hell do I know. Trump may be racing around the White House trying to avoid a straitjacket ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1131 "2021-01-07T03:46:07Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > ABC News is speculating on whether acting members of the Cabinet can vote on the 25th Amendment. No one knows but I would say no. Of what use is confirmation if an “acting” cabinet member can do anything a confirmed one could? And this is about as big a deal in the job description as it gets! I have a real problem with the system now where the senate just doesn’t bother with confirmations or outright blocks any nominations but it is what we are stuck with. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1132 "2021-01-07T03:46:28Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > ABC News is speculating on whether acting members of the Cabinet can vote on the 25th Amendment. Plain text suggests yes, as the amendment says “the principal officers of the executive departments,” rather than the heads of the department. Plus it uses Acting President in the text in a way that suggests that it is intended that an acting \_\_\_ has the full powers of the full officer. Then, from a more practical standpoint, it would mean that all a President has to do to avoid being removed by the 25th is not to appoint cabinet members. That doesn’t make sense to have been the intent. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1133 "2021-01-07T03:47:32Z")
Senator Ron Johnson to Garrett Haake of NBC News: Wisconsin’s [@RonJohnsonWI](https://twitter.com/RonJohnsonWI) - one of the objectors today- tells me neither his fellow objectors nor president Trump bear any responsibility for the violence today. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1134 "2021-01-07T03:49:08Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Senator Ron Johnson to Garrett Haake of NBC News: > Wisconsin’s Up for reelection in 2022. You know what you need to do, Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1135 "2021-01-07T03:49:16Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I have a real problem with the system now where the senate just doesn’t bother with confirmations I thought it was trump who chose not to bother with confirmations. That way it would be easier to fire the people when he got tired of them. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > or outright blocks any nominations but it is what we are stuck with. As I recall, immediately after the election Mitch announced that he planned to block every single one of Joe’s nominations. I hope he’s smirking out of his other hole now. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1136 "2021-01-07T03:49:47Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > So apparently while insurgents were rampaging through the Capitol and a woman was killed, Cruz’s campaign [sent out fundraising text and email messages](https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/06/ted-cruz-trump-capitol/) this afternoon that, “I’m leading the fight to reject electors from key states unless there is an emergency audit of the election results." > > Classy, Ted. Real classy. I am pretty sure that it was prewritten and sent automatically and a preset time. It was sent when he would have been voting or debating. Someone should have thought to rescind it but didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1137 "2021-01-07T03:50:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I thought it was trump who chose not to bother with confirmations. That way it would be easier to fire the people when he got tired of them. Indeed. But there should be a downside right? Otherwise sidestepping the constitution on this becomes trivial. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > As I recall, immediately after the election Mitch announced that he planned to block every single one of Joe’s nominations. I hope he’s smirking out of his other hole now. Amen sister ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1138 "2021-01-07T03:51:24Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > As I recall, immediately after the election Mitch announced that he planned to block every single one of Joe’s nominations. I hope he’s smirking out of his other hole now. No. He pre-emptively said that he would block certain ones (Sanders, Warren) and that Biden would have to work with him. He certainly didn’t say that he would block all of them. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1139 "2021-01-07T03:51:29Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > As I recall, immediately after the election Mitch announced that he planned to block every single one of Joe’s nominations. I hope he’s smirking out of his other hole now. To be fair, he said no such thing. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1140 "2021-01-07T03:53:43Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > He pre-emptively said that he would block certain ones (Sanders, Warren) and that Biden would have to work with him. I’m not aware that he said even this, and it would be insane for him to do so since both Senators would have their replacements appointed by Republican Governors. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1141 "2021-01-07T03:54:38Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > He will be out of office in a few days, and can then be charged. > > Isn’t the maximum penalty for impeachment to be booted out of office, and forbidden to hold office again? No point in that. He’s out in a few days anyway. Criminal trial is much better. Actually, I think Trump should be impeached and then criminally charged after his removal from office. The point of impeachment is to send a message that this type of behavior is not acceptable in a democracy. If convicted, an appropriate penalty would be not only to remove him from office before he can do any more damage, but to also prohibit him from holding any federal office in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770/1142 "2021-01-07T03:55:36Z")
No. What he did say: > Biden’s nominees “aren’t all going to pass on a voice vote, and they aren’t all going to make it, but I will put them on the floor,” McConnell said in an interview with Scott Jennings, a conservative commentator, published Monday in the Louisville Courier-Journal in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky. [SOURCE](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/mcconnell-says-he-will-allow-biden-s-cabinet-nominees-a-hearing) And considering what he got away with Merrick Garland’s nomination McConnell had every reason to suppose he could dictate terms on this. The reality would have been a shit-show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/6-january-2021-a-day-worth-a-thread/929770.md?page=58)