(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Representative Jamie Raskin’s 25th Amendment bill is picking up momentum in Congress. As of today, 50 cosponsors have signed on to the ‘Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act’ (H.R. 1987), which will establish the Constitutionally-provided and Congressionally-appointed “body” we need to determine presidential capacity with the Vice President.
Under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet or the Vice President and a majority of “such other body as Congress may by law provide” can determine in the event of a crisis that the President is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” due to physical or mental incapacity. Although the 25th Amendment was ratified more 50 years ago, Congress has so far not set up this body.
President Trump’s recent behavior has triggered alarm across the political spectrum, among national security officials and diplomats, and within the medical and mental health communities. Last week, multiple media reports suggested that the President had “come unhinged.” Citing sources close to the President, the New York Times and the Washington Post last week reported that Trump sometimes seems to be inhabiting an alternate reality, which prompted a New York Magazine piece titled, “New Reports Suggest Trump Might Not Be a Liar at All, But Truly Delusional.”
Other writers have detailed “Trump’s Rejection of Observable Reality”, asserted that “Trump Is Cracking Up” and wondered aloud: “Is Donald Trump Gaslighting Himself?”. A Washington Post opinion piece about Trump’s growing mental disorder summed up the situation: “This is getting worse.”
“Since January, President Trump has thrown our country into chaos at every turn,” said Raskin. “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. 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. At a moment of unprecedented presidential chaos, the Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity is essential, urgently needed and indispensable.”
To learn more about the Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act (OCPC Act), click here. A list of the Members of Congress who have already cosponsored the OCPC Act follows:
Donald Beyer, Earl Blumenauer, Anthony Brown, Andre Carson, Joaquin Castro, Judy Chu, David Cicilline, Yvette Clarke, Wm. Lacy Clay, Steve Cohen, Peter DeFazio, John Delaney, Diana DeGette, Mark DeSaulnier, Lloyd Doggett, Keith Ellison, Adriano Espaillat, Dwight Evans, Al Green, Raul Grijalva, Luis Gutierrez, Colleen Hanabusa, Steny Hoyer, Jared Huffman, Sheila Jackson Lee, Pramila Jayapal, Hakeem Jeffries, Hank Johnson, Marcy Kaptur, Barbara Lee, Ted Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, Jim McGovern, Gwen Moore, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jerry Nadler, Grace Napolitano, Donald Payne Jr., Ed Perlmutter, Mark Pocan, Jan Schakowsky, Bobby Scott, Carol Shea Porter, Louise Slaughter, Jackie Speier, Darren Soto, Mark Takano, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Peter Welch.
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Congressman Jamie Raskin represents Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Montgomery, Frederick, and Carroll counties. He is the Vice Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, a Senior Democratic Whip, and Freshman Representative to the House Democratic Steering & Policy Committee. He also serves on the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee and the Committee on House Administration. He has been a professor of constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law for 27 years and has read the entire legislative history of the 25th Amendment.