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House Democrats are moving to formally assess President Donald Trump’s fitness for office, introducing new legislation that centers on the use of the 25th Amendment.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, unveiled a bill Tuesday (April 14) that would create a 17-member commission tasked with evaluating whether a sitting president is able to carry out the duties of the office, according to The Hill.
The proposed panel — formally titled the “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office” — would be authorized to examine several factors, including physical or mental health conditions, substance use, and “any other condition” that could prevent a president from fulfilling their responsibilities.
If directed by Congress, the commission could also conduct a medical examination of the president to determine whether they are “mentally or physically unable” to serve. The effort is tied to Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet — or another body established by Congress — to declare a president unfit, temporarily transferring power to the vice president.
Raskin, who introduced the legislation alongside roughly 50 Democratic co-sponsors, framed the bill as a matter of national security.
“Public trust in Donald Trump’s ability to meet the duties of his office has dropped to unprecedented lows,” Raskin said in a statement reported by both outlets, pointing to recent rhetoric and actions he described as destabilizing.“We are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress to fulfill its responsibilities under the 25th Amendment to protect the American people from an increasingly volatile and unstable situation.”
The push comes amid heightened tensions following a series of threats Trump directed at Iran, including a warning that “a whole civilization will die” if a peace deal was not reached.
In response, more than 70 Democrats have called for his removal from office.
Still, the legislation faces long odds in a Republican-controlled Congress, underscoring the political challenges surrounding any effort to invoke the 25th Amendment.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has not taken a definitive stance on removal efforts, saying on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” last week that Democrats have “ruled nothing out” but are focused on the issues directly in front of them.
Any move to remove a president would require significant political consensus — including a majority vote in the House and a two-thirds vote in the Senate for conviction in the case of impeachment — thresholds that remain difficult to reach in a divided government.
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