Politics and the World: Can a President be Recalled?

This Blog post was originally Published May 1, 2017 on my old website. No changes have been made, expect formatting.

Politics and the World: Can a President be Recalled?

With the election of Donald Trump as President, many Americans are looking for ways to remove him from office. While some methods are less than legal, let us  only look a the legal methods of removing a President from office.

The Constitution only provides for five ways for a President to be removed from office: End of Term (on second term or not reelected), Death (Side Note 1), Resignation, Impeachment, and the Vice President and the Cabinet declare the President unfit for Office (twenty-fifth Amendment). In a future video I will explain the twenty-fifth Amendment. Of all these methods, only one directly involves the People; the President not being reelected.

There is another option that could be used to remove the President from office. While this method is not provided for in the constitution; it is not banned by it either. This method is used by some states to allow for the removal of state officials, including Governors. This method is a recall election.

A recall election is a process by which voters (the people) can remove an elected official from office before their term is over by a direct vote in a special “election.” It is typically initiated when sufficient voters have signed a petition.

The Question has been asked can President Donald Trump, can any future President, be recalled? Unfortunately there is no clear answer, as no recall election has ever been held for a Federal Office. Another popular question is why would we want to recall the President? This answer is much more clear. A recall election is intended to give the People a way to remove from an elected official from office who has lost their [the people’s] trust and confidence; additionally it can be used to remove an official from office that Congress refuses to impeach despite clear evidence warranting it.

How can the President be recalled from office when there is no precedent for doing so nor any constitutional clause. Or is there? One key step in initiated a recall election in the states that allow it is petitioning the government. Which is a protected right under the first Amendment of the Constitution and extended to the states through the fourteenth amendment with the Supreme Court case NAACP v. Button. So if you want to recall the President you can start or sign a petition. In the description I have linked a few change.org petitions (Side Note 2). In addition you can always write your representatives in Congress and the state legislatures.

This would be needed, because for a recall election to succeed the constitution would need to be amended which is started by introducing an amendment to Congress. I know this because I have spoke to a few Republican friends of mine at school to ask them their opinion on the matter. They are opposed to a recall election because they believe it to be unconstitutional and undemocratic (I am paraphrasing their opinions). A constitutional amendment would be needed because without an amendment, it would be very difficult to get people who share the views of my Republican friends, to actual support a recall election otherwise.

Since it would be difficult to get a recall election authorized and passed by Congress (whether with a law or amendment), the two next best options would be a constitutional convention or impeachment. In a later video I will go over the impeachment process. For the constitutional convention options; two-thirds of the state legislatures call for it and draft the amendment, then it would go to the states for ratification like normal. In a later video I will go over all the possible ways to amend the US Constitution. This would be one way to establish a constitutional basis for a recall election without having to deal with policy gridlock in Congress, where many Republics (currently in May 2017) would be in opposition to it.

In conclusion, the only viable way to remove a President from office before his (or her) term is complete is impeachment. This however, can be changed though a constitutional amendment and by petitioning the government. Exercise your first amendment right and sign a petition and write your Representatives in Congress so that your voice can be heard, as a silent voice cannot be heard over the noise of the crowd.

 

Side Note 1

By death, I am referring to death by natural causes, not assassination. While assassination will remove a President from office; it is a crime. It is even a crime worthy of the death penalty. If you are wondering, all those who have assassinated a President have been killed. One was shot during the manhunt for him, two were executed, and one was murdered/assassinated.

Side Note 2

Let me shed by non-partisan voice and explain why I signed one of these petitions: I believe that as a democracy, America needs a way for the People to remove an unfit person from the Office of President. In the light of this current administration, I have grave concerns regarding Trump's qualifications for the office of which he was elected. In addition, Trump's Administration has been too controversial; from contact with Russia to close relations with alt-right. If America is to survive the twenty-first century, as a country we will need to further enhance our democracy and allowing a recall election for the President of the United States is a nice step in the right direction.

Video Version:

 

-Jonathan Berry