Re-elected Trump could hand over control to his veep if he's in prison: analyst

Taking up the question of what would happen if Donald Trump wins re-election in 2024 while serving time in prison, one political analyst suggested the 25th Amendment could come into play – with his running mate assuming his powers.

In his column for Bloomberg, longtime political observer Noah Rothman considered the very real possibility that the former president could squeak out a win in 2024 despite his legal travails that now -- with a federal indictment -- may include jail time.

That would take the country into uncharted territory since there is no prohibition -- depending on the charges -- that keeps a convicted Trump from becoming president, even if he is sitting in a prison cell.

According to Rothman, that could make whomever Trump chooses as his running mate -- a range of reported candidates includes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), failed Arizona candidate Kari Lake and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) -- taking over as acting president as he awaits his release.

Explaining that the Constitution is "silent" on imprisoned presidents, Rothman suggested, "The 25th Amendment could be used, I suppose, with Trump’s agreement — although it is hard to imagine that as a matter of Trump’s personal psychology. If Trump cooperated, however, the vice president could do his job until he was released from prison."

He then added that, even if Trump didn't agree, it could still be invoked despite his wishes, writing: "where it would take a two-thirds in both chambers to hand Trump’s powers to his vice president."

Admitting that the premise sounds "far-fetched" he continued, "There are some technical issues here, to be sure. The 25th Amendment requires the existence of a cabinet. If Trump were to be imprisoned after his election but before his new cabinet could be confirmed, things could get messy. If the 25th were invoked by the remaining members of Biden’s cabinet, Trump would certainly fire them. That could lead to a failure of the amendment, because it would raise the question of whether Trump’s firing of those cabinet officers was effective given his nominal 'incapacity'"

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