Politics

Nancy Pelosi unveils 25th Amendment bill that seeks to strip presidential powers

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced legislation on Friday that would give Congress more power to remove a president from power — one day after questioning President Trump’s fitness for office due to his treatment for COVID-19.

Pelosi insisted that the “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office Act” — introduced less than a month before the Nov. 3 election — wasn’t aimed at Trump.

“He will face the judgment of the voters, but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents,” the California Democrat claimed.

Under the proposal outlined by US Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), Congress would establish a bipartisan commission of medical experts and high-ranking former executive branch officials who could work with the vice president to seek the ouster of a commander-in-chief deemed mentally or physically “incapacitated” under terms of the 25th Amendment.

Currently, such a move — which requires a two-thirds vote of both the Senate and the House — can only be initiated by the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet.

Pelosi first hinted at the plan during a Thursday morning press conference that prompted Trump to fire back on Twitter.

“Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing!” Trump wrote.

Friday’s announcement came amid a series of stepped-up attacks on Trump by Pelosi since his coronavirus diagnosis last week.

On Thursday, she told Bloomberg TV that Trump was “shall we say, in an altered state right now” after reportedly suggesting Tuesday that side effects from the steroid dexamethasone were behind his abrupt tweet announcing an end to negotiations over a new economic stimulus bill.

President Donald Trump reaches to remove his mask upon return to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
President Trump reaches to remove his mask upon returning to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.Getty Images

During her Friday news conference, reporters repeatedly questioned the motives of Pelosi, who pushed for last year’s impeachment of Trump, leading to his acquittal in the Republican-controlled Senate.

“It’s not about any of us making a judgment about the president’s well-being,” she claimed.

“We have to give some comfort to people that there is a way to do this very respectful, not making a judgment on the basis of a comment or behavior that we don’t like, but based on a medical decision, again, with the full involvement of the vice president of the United States, whoever she or he may be at the time.”

Earlier Friday, Pelosi — who’s third in line to the presidency — sent a letter to fellow Democrats that said Trump “irresponsibly still refuses to engage in mask wearing and social distancing” despite the 212,000 Americans killed by COVID-19 and the mounting number of cases across the country.

“The President does not have the capacity, leadership or plan for testing, tracing, and isolation that is needed,” she wrote.

“Instead, Trump’s delay, denial, distortion of reality and disdain for science has exacted a deadly and preventable human toll.”

During her news conference, the speaker repeatedly swatted away questions from reporters who asked about the timing of the bill, which comes just 25 days before Election Day, why it couldn’t wait until the next session of Congress.

Pelosi denied that the proposed commission could stage a politically motivated coup and instead likened it to a life insurance policy should a family member suffer a stroke.

“It’s not about the election at all,” she said.

“Again, this isn’t about any judgment anybody has on anybody’s behavior. This is about a diagnosis, a professional medical diagnosis.”

She also claimed it would be “a comfort to people that it’s not about ‘who’s in power’ thing — ‘I don’t like the way he or she is acting.’”

“It’s about a process that is bipartisan, based in the Constitution, giving Congress the power to do this which Congress hasn’t done and again, at a time when people understand that there is a necessity for it” she said.

“It isn’t about any of us making a decision whether the 25th Amendment should be invoked. That’s totally not the point. That’s not up to us.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
House Speaker Nancy PelosiAFP via Getty Images

Raskin said Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, which was introduced in 1965 and ratified in 1967, allows the vice president and a “body” established by Congress to challenge the president’s competency and ability to execute the duties of the office.

“I wish that Congress had set up this permanent body 50 years ago. It did not do it but we do need to do this, certainly in the next Congress,” he said.

“I guess I would say the situation has focused everybody’s mind on the need for following through on this suggestion in the 25th Amendment that Congress set up its own body and I think again in the age of COVID-19 where a lot of government actors have been afflicted by it, we need to act.”

The coronavirus outbreak at the White House that sickened Trump has infected at least 34 staffers and other contacts, according to reports.

The Pelosi-backed bill would have to be passed by both houses of Congress and would most likely die in the Republican-held Senate. If it didn’t, it would also have to be signed by the president.

Meanwhile, White House Dr. Sean Conley has said the president was making a strong recovery from COVID-19 after completing treatment for the disease.

Conley said Trump — who was discharged from Walter Reed medical center Monday following a three-night stay — could likely safely return to public engagements on Saturday.