House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), during her weekly press conference Thursday, told reporters that she intends to talk about the 25th Amendment, ahead of the November election, following questions regarding President Donald Trump’s health as he recovers from coronavirus.
The 25th Amendment allows for the vice president to become acting president if is determined that the president “is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
“Tomorrow, by the way, tomorrow, come here tomorrow,” Nancy Pelosi said. “We’re going to be talking about the 25th Amendment.”
"Tomorrow, by the way, tomorrow, come here tomorrow. We're going to be talking about the 25th Amendment."@SpeakerPelosi is out of her mind
pic.twitter.com/ZSceanVbmN— Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 8, 2020
Pelosi had earlier questioned the status of Trump’s health, as well as exactly how long he has had COVID-19, Fox News reported.
“I think that the public needs to know the health condition of the President,” Pelosi said. “There’s one question that he refused to answer … when was his last negative test?” Pelosi said that this information is necessary in order to “make a judgment about the actions that were taken after that.
Let us see a date, a time when you last tested negative,” she added. Continued Below
The 25th Amendment requires a declaration of the president’s inability from the vice president and either a majority of either the heads of executive branch departments “or of such other body as Congress may by law provide,” to be sent to the speaker of the House–in this case, Pelosi–and the president pro tempore of the Senate–currently Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as reported by Fox News.
While the amendment allows for Congress to pass a law that would create a body to sign off on such a declaration, Pelosi would have to convince Senate Republicans to go along with it. Plus, Vice President Mike Pence would also have to sign the declaration as well, which would be highly unlikely, per Fox News.
Reporter: "Do you think it's time to invoke the 25th Amendment?"
Speaker Pelosi: "I'll talk to you about that tomorrow." https://t.co/jCsZxXCsg9 pic.twitter.com/xTPy5ZkTsZ
— The Hill (@thehill) October 8, 2020
During an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” last month, Pelosi did not rule out “impeachment” as an option to halt the Commander in Chief’s U.S. Supreme Court pick from being confirmed, saying Democrats have “options” and will “use every arrow in our quiver” to block the eventual nominee before the November election.
“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now,” Pelosi tells @GStephanopoulos when pressed on what Democrats would do if Republicans move to confirm a Trump SCOTUS pick in a lame duck session if Biden wins. https://t.co/Xgu46wHrLV pic.twitter.com/YcxJup6ZML
— ABC News (@ABC) September 20, 2020
