Another Run at the 25th Amendment
House Democrats have introduced a new bill that would create a 17-member commission to review whether President Trump is fit to serve under the 25th Amendment. The effort is led by Rep. Jamie Raskin of New York, who has pushed similar ideas before and, apparently, has not been discouraged by the results. The proposal would look at whether the president is mentally or physically able to handle the job. In theory, this sounds like a constitutional safeguard. In practice, it looks a lot like Washington’s favorite hobby, turning every political fight into a grand emergency and then acting shocked when the public notices the theater.
What the Bill Would Do
The legislation leans on Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and Cabinet, or a body created by Congress, to say a president is unable to serve. Under this plan, congressional leaders from both parties would appoint commission members, along with former senior executive officials. The group would then pick a chair and carry out a medical review of the president’s ability to discharge the duties of office. But there is a small obstacle, and it is not exactly hidden in the hallway. Republicans control Congress, Trump has veto power, and Vice President J.D. Vance would still need to approve any real action. So the bill has the shape of a serious proposal and the odds of a serious outcome.
The Politics Behind the Push
The effort comes after more than 85 Democrats called for Trump to be impeached or removed under the 25th Amendment following his comments about bombing Iran. The bill has 50 Democratic co-sponsors, which shows the party can still gather a crowd when the goal is stopping Trump instead of, say, passing laws that ordinary people might notice. Raskin said Congress has the power and the duty to create a body to respond to presidential incapacity and argued it should have been done when the amendment was added in 1967. The White House fired back by calling Raskin a “stupid person’s idea of a smart person,” which is not a model of statesmanship, but it does save time. Spokesman Davis Ingle also pointed to Trump’s “sharpness” and “historic accessibility,” while accusing Democrats of hiding Joe Biden’s decline. In Washington, nobody misses a chance to accuse the other side of the exact thing they were just doing yesterday.
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