--- title: Pence Denies Effort to Remove Trump From Office Under 25th Amendment description: Pence Denied a report that former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe said Justice Department officials discussed invoking the 25th Amendment. canonical: https://time.com/5529715/mike-pence-denies-25th-amendment-trump/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-14T19:52:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:02.127Z article:section: Politics og:title: Pence Denies Report There Was Effort to Remove President Trump og:description: Andrew McCabe said Justice Department officials discussed the 25th Amendment og:url: https://time.com/5529715/mike-pence-denies-25th-amendment-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9abfa4260f12fcf2/6989452e09208f8323413567/mike-pence-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4500 og:image:height: 2531 og:image:alt: U.S. Vice President Pence Visits Warsaw Military Base og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pence Denies Report There Was Effort to Remove President Trump twitter:description: Andrew McCabe said Justice Department officials discussed the 25th Amendment twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9abfa4260f12fcf2/6989452e09208f8323413567/mike-pence-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'I've Never Heard Any Discussion of the 25th Amendment.' Pence Denies Report There Was Effort to Remove President Trump > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c9f18a7b-5bd5-4915-ae36-d39a87950f6f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Twice a week | time.com/newsletters, September 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * D.C. Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c9f18a7b-5bd5-4915-ae36-d39a87950f6f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/subscribe?i=c9f18a7b-5bd5-4915-ae36-d39a87950f6f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's politics newsletter? D.C. Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c9f18a7b-5bd5-4915-ae36-d39a87950f6f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Mitch McConnell Says President Trump Will Sign Border Bill but Declare National Emergency [Watch (HLS stream): Mitch McConnell Says President Trump Will Sign Border Bill but Declare National Emergency](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/krjlvULB.m3u8) (0:25)  _Published 2019-02-14. President Donald Trump will sign Congress’ border security compromise, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said_ by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Feb 14, 2019 7:52 PM UTC  Vice President Mike Pence speaks while visiting Polish and U.S. soldiers at a military base on Feb. 13, 2019 in Warsaw, Poland. Vice President Mike Pence speaks while visiting Polish and U.S. soldiers at a military base on Feb. 13, 2019 in Warsaw, Poland. Sean Gallup—Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Feb 14, 2019 7:52 PM UTC Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday pushed back on [reported comments from former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe](http://time.com/5529458/andrew-mccabe-russia-investigation-60-minutes/) that Justice Department officials previously discussed using the 25th Amendment to deem President Donald Trump incompetent and remove him from office. McCabe’s remarks reportedly came during an [interview on CBS’ _60 Minutes_](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andrew-mccabe-says-he-ordered-the-obstruction-of-justice-case-of-president-trump-60-minutes/) that is scheduled to air Sunday, ahead of the release of his new book _The Threat: How FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump_. CBS News’s Scott Pelley appeared on _CBS This Morning_ on Thursday to discuss the interview, and said McCabe told him Justice Department officials were “trying to figure out what to do” with Trump after the President fired FBI Director James Comey in May of 2017. “There were meetings at the Justice Department at which it was discussed whether the vice president and a majority of the cabinet could be brought together to remove the president of the United States under the 25th Amendment,” Pelley recounted. “These were the eight days from Comey’s firing to the point that Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel. And the highest levels of American law enforcement were trying to figure out what do with the president.” CBS has not released that portion of the interview that includes McCabe discussing the 25th Amendment. The full sit-down is scheduled to air Sunday at 7 p.m. > [](https://twitter.com/NorahODonnell/status/1096020537069977600) Following the CBS revelation Thursday morning, Pence told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell on that he found any suggestion of using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office was “absurd.” “I’ve never heard any discussion of the 25th amendment by any members of this government and I would never expect to,” the Vice President said. > [](https://twitter.com/MSNBCPR/status/1096080136494039040) The [25th Amendment to the Constitution](http://time.com/4656659/25th-amendment-50-years/) deals with the line of succession for the President. The amendment’s fourth section, which has never been invoked, allows the vice president and a majority of cabinet secretaries to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” This is not the first time the 25th Amendment has come up during Trump’s presidency. The topic has been floated since Trump took office in 2017, often coming up in liberal circles and from Trump critics. But it has also popped up in more serious reports. McCabe’s comments add to earlier reports that government officials had discussed the possibility of invoking the amendment. Last fall, an [op-ed in the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html) written by an [anonymous Trump administration official](http://time.com/5388796/trump-op-ed-25th-amendment/) said there had been “early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment” and then a [_Times report_](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/us/politics/mccabe-trump.html) just a few weeks later mentioned the 25th Amendment discussions and said that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein proposed wearing a wire to meetings with Trump. During his _60 Minutes_ interview, McCabe also reportedly brought up the offer from Rosenstein to wear a wire in meetings with Trump. A Justice Department spokesperson previously said Rosenstein’s suggestion was sarcastic, but Scott Pelley said the remark was not a joke. “McCabe in \[the _60 Minutes_\] interview says no, it came up more than once and it was so serious that he took it to the lawyers at the FBI to discuss it,” Pelley told _CBS This Morning._ The Justice Department issued [another statement](https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1096053671689883648) on Thursday, saying that McCabe’s account was not accurate. “The Deputy Attorney General again rejects Mr. McCabe’s recitation of events as inaccurate and factually incorrect,” the statement said. “As the Deputy Attorney General previously has stated, based on his personal dealings with the President, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment.” McCabe also said he ordered an obstruction of justice investigation into Trump after talking with him directly after the President fired Comey. “I was very concerned that I was able to put the Russia case on absolutely solid ground, in an indelible fashion,” McCabe said in a portion of the “60 Minutes” interview published on Thursday. “That were I removed quickly, or reassigned or fired, that the case could not be closed or vanish in the night without a trace.” McCabe was later fired in March of 2018 just before he was set to retire. “I wanted to make sure that our case was on solid ground,” he added. “And if somebody came in behind me and closed it and tried to walk away from it, they would not be able to do that without creating a record of why they’d made that decision.” Over the course of his presidency, Trump has often criticized the investigation into his campaign’s possible involvement with Russian interference in the 2016 election. He appeared to react to McCabe’s interview on Thursday, taking to Twitter to criticize the former FBI official. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1096056426533998594) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1096060280839307267) ## Transcript I've just had an opportunity to speak with President Trump, and he I would say to all my colleagues, he's indicated he's prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time. And I've indicated to him that I'm going to support the national emergency declaration. So for all of my colleagues, the President will sign the bill. We'll be voting on it shortly. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5529715/mike-pence-denies-25th-amendment-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5529715/mike-pence-denies-25th-amendment-trump/"},"headline":"'I've Never Heard Any Discussion of the 25th Amendment.' Pence Denies Report There Was Effort to Remove President Trump","datePublished":"2019-02-14T19:52:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:49:02.127Z","description":"Pence Denied a report that former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe said Justice Department officials discussed invoking the 25th Amendment.","url":"https://time.com/5529715/mike-pence-denies-25th-amendment-trump/","keywords":["Mike Pence","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9abfa4260f12fcf2/6989452e09208f8323413567/mike-pence-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9abfa4260f12fcf2/6989452e09208f8323413567/mike-pence-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Vice President Pence Visits Warsaw Military Base","caption":"U.S. Vice President Pence Visits Warsaw Military Base","creditText":"Sean Gallup—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mike-pence/","name":"Mike Pence"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5529715/mike-pence-denies-25th-amendment-trump/","name":"'I've Never Heard Any Discussion of the 25th Amendment.' Pence Denies Report There Was Effort to Remove President Trump"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mitch McConnell Says President Trump Will Sign Border Bill but Declare National Emergency","description":"President Donald Trump will sign Congress’ border security compromise, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/krjlvULB/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-02-14T20:54:15.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/krjlvULB.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5529715/mike-pence-denies-25th-amendment-trump/","duration":"PT25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5529715/mike-pence-denies-25th-amendment-trump/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```