Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) is suggesting that a recent report on President Donald Trump’s involvement in the Situation Room (or lack thereof) during the extraction of U.S. military airmen in Iran should prompt his cabinet members to consider removing him from office.
The Wall Street Journal report in question details that Trump, upon learning that the two airmen’s plane had been shot down, reportedly screamed at his aides for many hours and was later kept from receiving real-time updates on the situation while his staff was given updates.
While senior aides like Vice President JD Vance and chief of staff Susie Wiles were included in Situation Room briefings, Trump was only updated “at meaningful moments” on the phone, The Wall Street Journal reported.
When asked about Trump’s frequent visits to the golf course as the war in Iran wages on, Ocasio-Cortez cited the report and suggested that it might be good that Trump was kept away from his presidential duties.
“We’re already seeing that some of the most important military decision-makers in the country are trying to keep him out of consequential decisions, so in some ways, you kind of want this guy on a golf course more than you want him in the Oval Office,” the New York Democrat said while speaking to reporters earlier this week.
When asked about Trump’s frequent visits to the golf course as the war in Iran wages on, Ocasio-Cortez cited the report and suggested that it might be good that Trump was kept away from his presidential duties.
“We’re already seeing that some of the most important military decision-makers in the country are trying to keep him out of consequential decisions, so in some ways, you kind of want this guy on a golf course more than you want him in the Oval Office,” the New York Democrat said while speaking to reporters earlier this week.
“That also calls into question the 25th Amendment,” Ocasio-Cortez added, “because if the determination is that Donald Trump cannot be trusted in the Situation Room, then he’s not fit to be president.”
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment outlines a process for removing the president when it’s deemed that they’re no longer fit to serve. The process requires the majority of the president’s cabinet, along with the vice president, to deem the chief executive “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” at which point the vice president assumes presidential responsibilities.
The president can challenge that determination, after which, if the cabinet and vice president persist in their demands for the president to be removed from power, the issue goes to Congress. Two-thirds of both houses must agree with the cabinet’s determination in order for it to stay in place.
The current political climate makes it highly unlikely that Trump could face a 25th Amendment challenge, as Vance has made no indication that he would back the idea and Trump has filled his cabinet with people loyal to him. The fact that Republicans have a narrow majority in Congress also makes it next to impossible that two-thirds of the House and Senate would vote to remove him.
Still, Democrats have increased their calls for Trump to be removed from power, especially following his Truth Social post earlier this month calling for genocidal action against Iran if the Strait of Hormuz wasn’t reopened, stating that “a whole civilization will die” if his demands weren’t met.
“We need to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump. Threatening war crimes is a blatant violation of our Constitution and the Geneva Conventions,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) said in response to Trump’s post.
“This is not ok. Invoke the 25th amendment. Impeach. Remove,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) said.
No major poll has asked voters their views on invoking the 25th Amendment against Trump, but other surveys regarding his removal suggest that a large portion of Americans would support such a move. A Free Speech for People poll earlier this month found that 51 percent of Americans backed impeaching Trump, with only 40 percent against the idea.
This article was originally published on Truthout.org and republished here under a Creative Commons 4.0 license.