Pelosi offers bill on congressional removal of a president
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled legislation Friday that would allow Congress to intervene under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove the president, insisting it’s not about President Donald Trump but inspired by the need for greater congressional oversight of his White House.
Pelosi has been raising questions about Trump’s mental fitness since his COVID-19 diagnosis and demanding more transparency about his health. The bill would set up a commission to assess the president’s ability to lead the country and ensure a continuity of government. It comes one year after the House launched impeachment proceedings against Trump.
“This is not about President Donald Trump — he will face the judgment of the voters,” Pelosi said at a news conference at the Capitol.
Just weeks before the Nov. 3 election, with no hope of the bill becoming law, the rollout quickly was dismissed as a stunt by Trump’s team and top allies.
“It’s an absurd proposal,”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Fox.
“Absolutely absurd,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said during an appearance in Shepherdsville, Ky.
Pelosi said Trump needs to disclose more about his health after his COVID-19 diagnosis and when, exactly, he first contracted COVID, as others in the White House have become infected.
The legislation would create a commission as outlined under the 25th Amendment, which was passed by Congress and ratified in 1967 as a way to ensure a continuity of power in the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
It says the vice president and a majority of principal officers of the executive departments “or of such other body as Congress” may by law provide a declaration to Congress that the president “is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” At that point, the vice president would assume the powers of acting president.
“Let Congress exert the power the Constitution gave us,” Pelosi said Friday, standing before a poster of the amendment.
Pelosi, D-Calif., was joined by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a constitutional scholar, who has proposed similar bills in the past.
Raskin said the commission would be launched “only for the most extreme situations.”
Congress is not in session, so any serious consideration of the measure, let alone votes in the House or Senate, is unlikely. But the bill serves as a political tool to stoke questions about Trump’s health as the White House is hit by an outbreak infecting top aides, staff and visitors, including senators.