Section 3: Implementations to Date

Section 3 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment has been informally implemented once, by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, and formally implemented twice, by President George W. Bush, in 2002 and 2007. Section 4: Constitutional Provisions and Analysis

The text of Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment follows:
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. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days 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. If the Congress within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office. Section 3 was designed to be invoked either in anticipation of presidential inability, or as a response to a disability, while Section 4 was intended by the amendment's sponsors to be activated only in response to a presidential disability. Section 4 includes the following four distinct possible procedures:
a declaration of presidential disability by the Vice President acting in agreement with a majority of the Cabinet or such other body as Congress may establish by law (disability review body), followed by assumption of the powers and duties of the presidency by the Vice President as Acting President; and an uncontested declaration by the President that no inability exists, followed by the President's resumption of the office's powers and duties; and a declaration by the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet or the disability review body contesting the President's declaration and asserting that he or she remains disabled, followed by a decision on the issue by Congress. Under these circumstances, in the words of the amendment, "Congress shall decide the issue ..." The amendment further directs Congress to convene within 48 hours if it is not in session, and to vote to decide whether or not the President is still disabled within 21 days. It could be argued from this practical effect and the language in Section 4, which refers to the Vice President first and then the Cabinet or disability review body, that the amendment's framers intended the Vice President to take the lead in activating Section 4. The question of the disability is then decided by Congress. First, Congress has 21 days to consider the question of the President's disability if it is in session when the Speaker and President pro tempore receive the joint declaration. H.R. 1987—Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act

This measure was introduced by Representative Jamie Raskin on April 6, 2017. H.R. 1987 has been referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary and to the Committee on House Rules for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdictions of the committees concerned. H.R. 2093 has been referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice of the House Committee on the Judiciary. H.R. Section 4's comparative complexity, particularly its potential for declaring a President to be disabled without his or her concurrence, has troubled some observers.
Sections 3 and 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provide for presidential disability or inability.
Section 3 of the amendment sets the procedure whereby a President may declare himself or herself "unable to discharge the powers and duties" of the office by transmitting a written declaration to this effect to the President pro tempore of the Senate (President pro tem) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Speaker). For the duration of the disability, the Vice President discharges the President's powers and duties as Acting President. When the President transmits "a written declaration to the contrary" to the President pro tem and the Speaker, he or she resumes the powers and duties of the office. Section 3 is intended to cover either unanticipated disability, such as injury or illness, or anticipated disability, such as medical treatment. It has been activated three times under circumstances in which the President underwent general anesthesia for medical treatment. It was informally implemented by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and was formally implemented twice by President George W. Bush, in 2002 and 2007, under similar circumstances.
Section 4 provides for instances of contingent presidential disability. It was intended by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment's authors to provide for cases in which a President was unable or unwilling to declare a disability. In these circumstances, the section authorizes the Vice President and a majority of either the Cabinet, or such other body established by law (a presidential disability review body), acting jointly, to declare the President to be disabled. When they transmit a written message to this effect to the President pro tem and the Speaker, the Vice President immediately assumes the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
If the President, at a time of his choice, transmits a written message to the President pro tem and the Speaker that no disability exists, he or she resumes office. The Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet or disability review body may, however, contest this finding by a written declaration to the contrary to the aforementioned officers, delivered within four days of the President's declaration. Congress then decides the question, assembling within 48 hours if it is not in session. If Congress decides by a two-thirds vote of both houses that the President is unable to discharge the duties of the office, the Vice President continues as Acting President until the disability is resolved. If the two-thirds margin is not obtained, or if Congress is in session at the time but does not vote on the question within 21 days of receiving the requisite declaration, then the President resumes the powers and duties of the office. Similarly, if Congress is not in session at the time, and assembles as required by Section 4, but does not vote within 21 days of the day on which it is required to assemble, then the President resumes the powers and duties of the office.
Section 4's complexity and concern about its potential for misuse have raised questions among some observers that it could be implemented for political purposes. During debate on the amendment, its authors and proponents largely rejected such claims. They insisted the section was not intended to facilitate the removal of an unpopular or failed President, in support of which they cited checks and balances incorporated in the amendment that were designed to prevent abuse of the procedure. To date, Section 4 has not been implemented.
Two bills pending in the 115th Congress would establish a presidential disability review body as authorized by Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: H.R. 1987, introduced on April 6, 2017, and H.R. 2093, introduced on April 14 of the same year. H.R. 1987 has been referred to the House Committee on House Rules and the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. H.R. 2093 has been referred to Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.