Editing President of the United States (section)

=== Declarations of inability ===
{{Main|Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution}}

Under the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the president may temporarily transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president, who then becomes [[Acting president of the United States|acting president]], by transmitting to the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speaker of the House]] and the [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|president ''pro tempore'' of the Senate]] a statement that he is unable to discharge his duties. The president resumes his or her powers upon transmitting a second declaration stating that he is again able. The mechanism has been used by [[Ronald Reagan]] (once), [[George W. Bush]] (twice), and [[Joe Biden]] (once), each in anticipation of surgery.<ref>{{cite news| last=Olsen| first=Jillian| title=How many other vice presidents have temporarily taken over presidential powers?| date=November 19, 2021| url=https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/history/presidential-transfer-of-power-biden-bush-reagan/67-17f1fa96-f44a-4050-a53c-593f55e4949f| publisher=[[WTSP]]| location=St. Petersburg, Florida| access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Kate|title=For 85 minutes, Kamala Harris became the first woman with presidential power|date=November 19, 2021|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/19/politics/kamala-harris-presidential-power/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=November 19, 2021}}</ref>

The Twenty-fifth Amendment also provides that the vice president, together with a majority of certain members of the [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]], may transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president by transmitting a written declaration, to the speaker of the House and the president ''pro tempore'' of the Senate, to the effect that the president is unable to discharge his or her powers and duties. If the president then declares that no such inability exist, he or she resumes the presidential powers unless the vice president and Cabinet make a second declaration of presidential inability, in which case Congress decides the question.