Vice President Mike Pence and eight Cabinet Secretaries could make a move that would secure the nation and yet not upset Constitutional order.  In fact, it’s literally part of the Constitution.

The 25th Amendment is a curious creature:  it allows for the duties of the office of the President to pass to the Vice President if those nine people take action.  And they can do it without Pence taking over the office of the President.

If those nine people send a letter to Congress stating that the Trump can no longer manage the duties of his office, the Vice President assumes the duties–but not the title–of the office immediately.  Trump can, and likely would, object immediately, at which time the case gets sent to Congress.

And that’s when the fun stuff starts–and by “fun stuff” I mean an elegant mind-fuck that will drive Trump and his minions over the edge.

With just 13 days left in Trump’s term, the wording of the 25th Amendment doesn’t require Congress to do anything.  The Amendment reads that Congress would have to make a determination in 21 days from the time they get the notice from the Vice President, and that until Congress acts, the VP takes over the duties of the President.

And therein lies the elegance:  Trump’s only got 13 days left in office.  If Congress must act within 21 days, Congress can just sit back and….. do nothing.

Pence would be acting-president for 13 days, complete with access to the nuclear codes, and a goal to not fuck things up.  Trump wouldn’t have access to the nuclear football.  He couldn’t sign any pardons.  He would be banned from issuing military commands.

And the elegant thing is that Trump would be driven further nuts from, say, tomorrow through noon on January 20th because no one would have to do anything more to keep power away from him.  They’ll just run out the clock.

So do it, Pence.  Get eight of your Cabinet buddies and just write the letter.  You know you wanna.