Trump: 25th Amendment Ploy Is About Biden, Not Me

President accuses Pelosi of plotting to replace Biden with Kamala Harris
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 9, 2020 12:07 PM CDT
'Let Congress Exert the Power the Constitution Gave Us'
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, joined by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Democrats followed through on their promise to raise the profile of the 25th Amendment on Friday, introducing legislation that would create a 17-member panel to judge a president's fitness for the job. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a former professor of constitutional law, reintroduced a version of the bill he first unveiled in 2017, per the Hill. The proposal would give the panel the power to remove a president who is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office," allowing the vice president to step in. Nancy Pelosi said Friday that the legislation is not meant to apply to President Trump, and Trump himself seems to agree.

"Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris," he tweeted. "The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!" On Thursday, Pelosi said President Trump was "in an altered state," in reference to steroids he's been taking as treatment for COVID-19. "This is not about President Trump," she added Friday. "He will face the judgment of the voters. But he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents." She added: "Let Congress exert the power the Constitution gave us." Raskin said the legislation would apply "only for the most extreme situations," per ABC News. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany both dismissed the proposal as "absurd." (More 25th Amendment stories.)

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