Since his election, President Donald Trump has faced increasing calls to remove him from office, on both sides of the political spectrum. And while there are several methods of removal detailed in the US Constitution, one that has received a renewed amount of interest is not "impeachment", but the rarely cited 25th Amendment. So what exactly does this method entail, and how likely is it to be used against Donald Trump?
自当选以来,唐纳德·特朗普总统在两党间都面临着越来越多要求他下台的呼声。尽管美国宪法中详细列出了几种罢免总统的方法,但人们重新关注的一种方法不是“弹劾”,而是很少被引用的第二十五条修正案。那么,这种方法到底意味着什么,它被用来对付唐纳德·特朗普的可能性有多大?
Well, the 25th Amendment was actually envisioned not as a method of removing the President from power, but instead a clarification of what would happen if the President was incapacitated, resigned, or died. According to Article Two of the Constitution, in any of these cases, the Vice President would take over, and Congress would be allowed to select another official to govern until the President could resume their duties, or a new President be elected.
第二十五条修正案实际上并不是一种解除总统职务的方法,而是说明:如果总统丧失行为能力、辞职或死亡会发生什么。根据宪法第二条,在任何这些情况下,副总统都将接任,国会将被允许选择另一名官员任职,直至总统能够恢复职务,或选出一位新总统。
That might sound straightforward, but it actually created a series of problems concerning succession of the Presidency. When the VP takes over, does that mean they are now officially the next President, or are they simply acting President until the next one is elected? And who becomes Vice President?
这可能听起来很简单,但实际上却造成了一系列关于总统继任的问题。当副总统上任后,这是否意味着他现在正式成为下一任总统,还是只是在下届总统当选之前任代理总统?以及由谁来担任副总统职位?
One example of this ambiguity was after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. When Vice President Andrew Johnson took over he didn't name a new Vice President. Three years later, he was impeached. Had the Senate voted to remove him from office, which they did not, there would have been no second in command to take over the Presidency.
这种模棱两可的一个例子就是亚伯拉罕·林肯遇刺后面临的情形。副总统安德鲁·约翰逊上任后,他没有任命新的副总统。三年后,他被弹劾。如果参议院投票让他下台(他们没有这么做),那么就不会有第二个掌舵人接替总统职位。
Clearly, this question of succession had to be dealt with, and that's where the 25th Amendment came in. It delineated four sections. The first clarified that yes, the Vice President becomes the actual President if the former president is removed, dies, or resigns. The second states that when there is a vacancy in the Vice President position, the President nominates a replacement, who must be approved by a majority of Congress. The third standardizes what happens if the President becomes incapacitated, and has to temporarily grant power to the Vice President, which has most commonly been used for medical reasons.
显然,权力继承的问题必须得到解决,这也是第二十五条修正案的作用所在。它包括四个部分。第一点,澄清前述问题,是的,如果前总统被免职、死亡或辞职,副总统将正式成为总统。第二点指出,当副总统职位出现空缺时,总统提名一位接替者,而他必须得到国会多数议员的批准。第三点规定,如果总统失去行为能力,必须暂时将权力授予副总统,而这一情形出现的最常见原因是医疗原因。