House Dem leaders open door to 25th Amendment after rank-and-file push for Trump’s removal
Talk of invoking the 25th Amendment is reemerging among House Democrats after more than a year of dismissing speculation they would seek to remove Trump from power for a third time.
Rather than quash the discussion, House Democratic leadership appears to be encouraging it.
On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., scheduled a Friday briefing on the 25th Amendment for his caucus to be hosted by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and House Judiciary Committee Democrats.
The announcement came after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, with administration officials hailing the success of Operation Epic Fury. Jeffries torched Trump’s threats issued earlier this week to wipe out Iran’s “civilization” and unleash “hell” on Tehran.
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“Shockingly, Donald Trump threatened to escalate his war of choice in a profane Easter Sunday rant and to eradicate an entire civilization,” Jeffries wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter Wednesday. “We will continue to unleash maximum pressure on Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping the madness.”
Jeffries has notably stopped short of calling for Trump’s removal from power. Instead, he has pushed a resolution seeking to block the president’s war powers in Iran, which was blocked by House Republicans on Thursday.
However, his willingness to entertain the discussion comes after dozens of his members called for Trump’s impeachment or the invocation of the 25th Amendment following the president’s escalating warnings against Iran if its leadership did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his self-imposed deadline.
“It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., wrote on social media. “This maniac should be removed from office.”
“He’s out of control and his cabinet and those around him must be loyal to the constitution and invoke the 25th amendment,” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said. “He must be removed.”
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Taking that approach is a much higher bar than impeachment and has never been used to involuntarily remove a sitting president. To be successful, Democrats would have to obtain buy-in from Republicans and the advisors closest to the president.
Specifically, the vice president and a majority of the cabinet would have to agree that Trump is unfit for office. In the event Trump were to contest their assessment, two-thirds of the House and Senate would have to vote in support of that judgment.
Some Democrats have publicly admitted the 25th Amendment is likely to be a futile option, even if they agree that Trump should step aside.
“I’m getting a lot of traffic about the 25th Amendment after Trump’s mad rants,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. said on social media Tuesday. “The president is facing serious mental decline; I’m with you on that.”
“But unfortunately, invoking the 25th is not realistic right now, given his oddball Cabinet of sycophants and eccentrics, and Republican ‘spines of foam,’” he continued. “We’re going to have to buckle down and win this the old-fashioned way.”
Democrats previously embraced the 25th Amendment to remove Trump in 2021 following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi steered a resolution calling for Congress to act through the lower chamber, but the cabinet balked at the demand.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
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