U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) signed onto Representative Jamie Raskin’s (D-MD-08) bill to give Congress a role in determining when a president is unfit to carry out their duties.
The bill would establish a nonpartisan “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office”, the body and process called for in Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to enable Congress to ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership in the presidency.
“Between threatening to wipe out entire civilizations and picking fights with the Pope, Donald Trump has proven himself fundamentally unfit for office,” said Rep. Carbajal. “The chaos of his tenure serves as a critical wake-up call to strengthen our Constitution. That’s why I’m supporting this legislation to formalize Congress's role in the 25th Amendment process. By creating clearer pathways to address an unstable or incapacitated president, we’re ensuring that the White House remains accountable to the American people.”
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment empowers Congress to establish a permanent “body” that, with the agreement of the Vice President, can declare that the President is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
Although the 25th Amendment was adopted more than 50 years ago, Congress never set up the body called for in Section 4. Rep. Raskin’s bill would establish this independent nonpartisan body: The Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office. If passed, this bill would mean the Vice President could act either with a majority of the Cabinet or a majority of this body in the event of a 25th Amendment crisis.
Under the bill, the Speaker of the House, House Minority Leader, Senate Majority Leader, and Senate Minority Leader will each select four retired statespersons from the Executive Branch (such as former Presidents, Vice Presidents, Attorneys General and Surgeons General, Secretaries of State, Defense, and Treasury) to serve on the Commission.
Additionally, the Democratic and Republican leaders of each chamber will select four physicians and four psychiatrists to serve on the Commission. The 16 appointed members then select a 17th member to act as the Chair of the Commission. In order to avoid conflicts of interest and both civilian and military chain of command issues, none of the members can be current elected officials, federal employees, or members of the active or reserve military.
Bill text is available here. An overview of the legislation and background on the 25th Amendment is available here. FAQs are available here.
