House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is known for her strong distaste for Donald Trump. On Friday, she showed that by announcing new legislation to create a commission that would give congress the authority to overthrow a president from the office.
Pelosi is using the 25th amendment to create this new bill, which comes a day after she accused Trump of being “in an altered state” from his recent coronavirus treatment.
However, Pelosi says her new move “is not about President Trump.” She believes, “He will face the judgment of the voters. But he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents.”
She’s also denied that the legislation’s timing has anything to do with next month’s election and claims that setting up such a commission on presidential capacity is needed to “give some comfort to people” on the stability of the American government.
Predictable, Trump responded immediately to Pelosi’s legislation and said it’s actually going to remove Biden from the office.
“Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris,” Trump tweeted. “The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!
Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris. The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2020
Pelosi told reporters that the new addition to the 25th amendment would help provide a succession plan. Pelosi and Rep. Jamie Raskin—author of the bill, came together at the capitol to speak on the need for action, both agreeing that the coronavirus has shown it’s needed.
“We need to act,” Raskin said, who is also a professor of constitutional law.
“In times of chaos, we must hold fast to our Constitution,” Raskin added. “The 25th amendment is all about the stability of the presidency and the continuity of the office.”
The amendment would allow a vice president to take over if the acting president was deemed “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Pelosi has questioned the state of Trump’s health and recent behavior subsequent to his COVID-19 diagnosis.
“The public needs to know the health condition of the president,” Pelosi said Thursday. Trump fired back by saying, “Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing!”
Regardless if this is Trump-related, the amendment seems to be a good idea. It would allow Congress, the cabinet, and vice president the authority to strip powers from the acting president if it is determined that for some reason, he or she is declared unfit under dire circumstances.
However, that would require a 2/3 vote from both houses, Fox News reports.
“For the security of our people and the safety of the Republic, we need to set up the ‘body’ called for in the 25th Amendment,” Raskin said at the time. “The president can fire his entire Cabinet for asking the same question tens of millions of Americans are asking at their dinner tables, but he cannot fire Congress or the expert body we set up under the Constitution.”
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