Congresswoman Ross, Colleagues Introduce 25th Amendment Legislation to Establish Independent Commission on Presidential Capacity

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) joined House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and her colleagues in introducing legislation that would establish a Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office. The bill would create the body and process called for in Section 4 of the 25 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “For more than a year, we have watched President Trump’s behavior grow increasingly erratic and unhinged, culminating in his threats to inflict war crimes on an entire nation,” said Congresswoman Ross. “His latest actions and comments surrounding the war in Iran raise serious questions about his fitness to serve. The U.S. Constitution explicitly created a process to handle concerns about presidential incapacity. It’s more urgent than ever that Congress finally establish this independent commission and ensure the executive branch is subject to proper and thorough oversight.” Section 4 of the 25 th Amendment empowers Congress to establish a permanent “body” that, with the concurrence 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 this body called for in Section 4. This bill establishes this independent nonpartisan body: The Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office. In emergency situations, Congress could pass a concurrent resolution requiring the Commission to examine the President, determine his/her ability to execute the powers and duties of the office, and report its findings to Congress. If presidential incapacity exists according to the Vice President and a majority of the Commission, the Vice President would immediately assume the role of Acting President. Bill text is available here . An overview of the legislation and background on the 25th Amendment is available here . FAQs are available here . ###