striker42
Well-known member
So Pelosi and the Dems will be unveiling legislation creating a commission on presidential capacity under the 25th Amendment. A couple things on this.
First, the idea isn't new. There have been attempts to create such a commission before.
Second, Congress absolutely has the power to do this. It's in the language of the 25th Amendment. "Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide". This would be removing the roll of the Cabinet and inserting a body selected by Congress.
Third, this is actually a fantastic idea. The flaw of the 25th Amendment is that by default the decision is placed in the hands of the "officers of the executive departments", a group of people who serve at the leisure of the President. So if the President regains control after an attempt to declare him incompetent, he could arguably fire his Cabinet and replace them with yes men. The SCOTUS might have something to say about it but it's definitely a real possibility. Also, a President's Cabinet often isn't going to be willing to go against their President in the first place. So removing their role is a good idea.
The VP on the other hand isn't someone the President can fire. So even if the President says he's fit, the VP and a competency commission could disagree and send the matter to Congress to vote.
Finally, the timing of this is so poor I think it poisons the idea forever, or at least for the foreseeable future. This is something that needs done (especially staring down the barrel of a President approaching 80) but it's not politicized when it shouldn't be politicized.
First, the idea isn't new. There have been attempts to create such a commission before.
Second, Congress absolutely has the power to do this. It's in the language of the 25th Amendment. "Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide". This would be removing the roll of the Cabinet and inserting a body selected by Congress.
Third, this is actually a fantastic idea. The flaw of the 25th Amendment is that by default the decision is placed in the hands of the "officers of the executive departments", a group of people who serve at the leisure of the President. So if the President regains control after an attempt to declare him incompetent, he could arguably fire his Cabinet and replace them with yes men. The SCOTUS might have something to say about it but it's definitely a real possibility. Also, a President's Cabinet often isn't going to be willing to go against their President in the first place. So removing their role is a good idea.
The VP on the other hand isn't someone the President can fire. So even if the President says he's fit, the VP and a competency commission could disagree and send the matter to Congress to vote.
Finally, the timing of this is so poor I think it poisons the idea forever, or at least for the foreseeable future. This is something that needs done (especially staring down the barrel of a President approaching 80) but it's not politicized when it shouldn't be politicized.
