25th Amendment Chatter Gets Louder As Congressman Warns Trump Is Increasingly Delusional

Rep. Jamie Raskin is trying to get the bill through the House that would set up the bipartisan panel needed along with vice president to remove Trump from office. Risen told CNN that the situation is already dangerous as Trump has grown more isolated, erratic, and delusional.

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CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Rep. Raskin about Republicans not expressing public concerns about Trump’s mental state.

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The Maryland Congressman answered, “Actually, a lot have confided their doubts about it. If you look at the statements made by Senator Corker and, you know — others in the U.S. Senate, a lot of Republicans have asked questions about whether there’s an adult day care center existing over in the white house and so on, but I’m trying to resist as much as possible just getting into the name-calling business. Obviously, there are a lot of things that are disturbing in terms of what’s happened, like the president suddenly denying the veracity of the access Hollywood tapes which he had readily conceded to and apologized for just months ago. There’s increasingly delusional behavior it seems like and erratic behavior, and he’s more and more isolated from his best friends like Steve Bannon who are beginning to call him out in terms of his behavior, but the issue is what is our institutional responsibility as the U.S. Congress? And we got that under the 25th amendment. Everybody should go and read it. Either the vice president can act with the cabinet in the event that the president becomes unable to conduct the powers of office or the vice president and body to be set up by Congress and the Congress in the last 50 years, never set the body up. At the very least, we have to set the body up, so it’s ready in the event of a crisis.”

There is also a proposed bill in the House that would strengthen and clarify the 25th Amendment by making it easier to remove an unfit president from office. The alarms being sounded about the need for invoking the 25th Amendment are growing more bipartisan by the day.

Raskin was correct. Congress can’t wait until it is too late. They have to be ready and have the body set up for action if necessary. With Trump in office not planning for a potential 25 Amendment crisis is nearly as irresponsible as not have a vice president would be for any other president.

Republicans know that this problem is real, and if they choose to ignore it, they will be committing a crime against their country.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association