It is. Even if Pence and the Cabinet claimed the President was unable to perform his duties, the President himself could say in writing that he was able to do so. It would then take a two-thirds vote in both Houses to remove him again. Not going to happen.
Indeed.
Although laws can always be twisted beyond their intended purpose, the basic idea of the 25th Amendment goes back to Woodrow Wilson’s stroke and Eisenhower’s heart attack. The fear was — “The president is down! He’s not dead, but he can’t govern! Who is in charge?? What will we do?? What if Russia tries to attack??”
But the Democrats now see it as a “poor man’s impeachment” tool. Hey, we don’t like this guy, so we will declare him unable to carry out his duties and then we will just move on ...”
Not so simple. If the President declares himself perfectly fit, then Congress has an extremely steep hill to climb to get rid of him. And the Second American Civil War is waiting for them at the top of that hill.