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Methods Considered to Avoid Post-Election Violence Resorting to Congress and 25th Amendment of the Constitution in Hopes of a "Peaceful Transition"One way the U.S. ruling class is hoping to secure a peaceful transition should the November 3 election of the president be contested is to use the 25th Amendment of the Constitution. The 25th Amendment was adopted in 1967 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It has been used three times since then when a sitting president underwent surgery and was thus "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." In such a case, the president temporarily appoints the vice president, usually for just a few hours. However, the amendment also allows the cabinet, together with the vice president, to vote to remove a president. Just three weeks before the election, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, introduced a bill that serves to implement the portion of the amendment that says "Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide..." The bill calls for the establishment of such a body. This body would serve to bypass the cabinet. The bill provides for the creation of a permanent Congressional Commission that would determine if the 25th Amendment should be invoked. It would have 16 members, half chosen by Republican lawmakers and half by Democratic lawmakers, and a chairperson. Half of the commission members would be doctors and half would be high-ranking former executive office officials who would work in concert with the vice president. The commission would determine if the president was unable to discharge his duties for any reason, medical or otherwise. If they vote to remove the president, the vice president takes over as president. Pelosi said the bill, introduced when President Trump came down with COVID-19, had nothing to do with his illness and would not be taken up until after the election. The timing thus indicates concern about what Trump might do if he loses the election. Pelosi is trying to put in place a mechanism for Congress to intervene so as to settle the issue without military intervention of some kind. Many Republicans have distanced themselves from Trump's claims that he will remain in office if he loses the election. If, as predicted, the Democrats gain a majority in the Senate, the belief is that the bill could be passed. The new Congress is seated on January 3. If the bill could be passed with sufficient votes it could sustain a veto and be put to use. According to the speculations, Vice President Pence, a long-time politician, would then leave peacefully. This is the main move the establishment forces have come up with to prevent the use of the military and the outbreak of a violent civil war between warring factions of the ruling class. What these calculations fail to take into account is that the contradictions within the ranks of the ruling class have a material basis. They will not go away because of a contrived manoeuvre.
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