Last week’s events in Washington raise disturbing questions about the United States’—and the world’s—security. Observers of outgoing President Donald Trump are concerned that he might decide to end his administration with an attack on Iran or another hostile foreign power in a deranged attempt to create a state of emergency to halt the transition. Of even greater concern, the president, like all his predecessors since Harry Truman, has the ability to launch U.S. nuclear weapons against targets around the globe on his own authority. He can do this in response to an incoming attack, but he can also do so without any evidence of such an attack. We need not presume the president is unstable in order to find this an extremely unsettling possibility.
At this point, it appears that Vice President Mike Pence is acting president in a de-facto implementation of the 25th Amendment, which allows for removal of the president if he is deemed unfit. His break with his boss, management of the fallout from the attempt to seize the Capitol, refusal to rule out use of the 25th Amendment, and emergence as the point of contact between the Congressional leadership and the White House, all while the president sulks in his tent, suggest that Pence will be the port of call for decisions sought on key issues. And in nine days, President-elect Joe Biden, a level-headed politician, will take office thus eliminating the problem. (In fact, his appointments make clear that the process for decision-making in a crisis will be handled carefully and systematically by a team of experienced professionals.)
