What Happens if Trump Hit Hard by COVID? Here's What Would Come Next, and What Could Make Pelosi the President
President Donald Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis has led to a lot of questions surrounding the series of events that will happen should he become unable to perform his duties.
The latest report indicates that Trump only has mild symptoms, so far. But if the president should become sick enough to be incapacitated, he has the ability under the 25th Amendment to transfer power temporarily to Vice President Mike Pence who did test negative for the virus Friday.
The 25th Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1965 and ratified two years later by the requisite three-quarters of US states, after the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The text of the amendment can be found here in the National Archives.
Many people aren't aware that the third US official in line for the presidency, behind the president and vice president, is the Speaker of the House of Representatives. So if Trump and Pence were both incapacitated for any reason, Nancy Pelosi would become acting president of the United States.
Brad Jacob, a constitutional law professor at Regent University, appeared on the Friday afternoon edition of CBN's Newswatch to explain more about what the Constitution says regarding the transfer of presidential power.
Be sure to stay with CBN News for continuing coverage on President Trump's COVID-19 recovery on CBNNews.com, the CBN News app, and on the CBN News Channel.
