Pollak: Republicans Should Back Democrats’ 2020 Bill on Removing Presidents for Incapacity

Republicans should rally around a 2020 proposal backed by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to make it easier to remove presidents for mental incapacity under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, based on Joe Biden’s recent behavior.

On Monday, at a White House Easter egg roll, Biden appeared confused and unsure of what to do or where to go. He stumbled as he attempted to read a children’s book, and was interrupted by a costumed Easter bunny when he attempted to address the media. Apparently the bunny, a press aide, had been assigned to direct the president’s movements at the event.

Biden’s behavior sparked mockery, but also concern: is the leader of the free world being directed by the Easter bunny?

In October 2020 — on a much flimsier pretext — Pelosi and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) re-introduced a bill to establish what Raskin called the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office. The idea was to create a process for evaluating a sitting president and then removing him or her from office if necessary, given mental incapacity.

At the time, Breitbart News reported that Pelosi aimed the legislation at Trump:

“He will face the judgment of the voters, but he shows the need to create a process for future presidents,” Pelosi said.

“Congress has a constitutional duty to lay out the process by which a president’s incapacity” is determined, Pelosi continued before adding “But we are reminded of the necessity of this action by the health of the current president.”

She insisted that the legislation itself was not merely about Trump, but about the general principle of congressional authority to weigh in on the president’s capacity.

Well, it is time for Republicans to take Pelosi, Raskin, and the dozens of other Democratic Party co-sponsors at their word. They should challenge Pelosi to bring Raskin’s legislation to a vote, and bring the issue of Biden’s apparent mental incapacity to the fore. The commander-in-chief should not be taking orders from the Easter bunny. It is well past time to intervene.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.