U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, filed a resolution on Friday calling for Vice President Kamala Harris to convene the Cabinet and declare President Joe Biden unable to perform his duties as Commander-in-Chief.
Roy’s resolution urges Harris to invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.
“I put forth a resolution calling upon the Vice President to immediately use her powers under section 4 of the 25th Amendment to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the Cabinet to declare the President of the United States is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office,” Roy said.
The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to notify the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, enabling the vice president to become acting president.
Roy’s call for action follows President Biden’s performance at Thursday night’s presidential debate, where Biden appeared to have mental and physical difficulties, prompting widespread speculation and criticism in the media and among Democrats.
The resolution calls on Vice President Harris “to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Joseph Biden incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as Acting President.”
It asserts that Biden “has repeatedly and publicly demonstrated his inability to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency, including, among others, the powers and duties of the Commander-in-Chief.”
In a radio interview, Roy echoed arguments made by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, stating uncertainty about who would replace Biden as the Democratic nominee ahead of the November election. Cruz suggested it might be former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Roy criticized Democrats for allegedly concealing concerns about Biden’s mental and physical health.
“They’ve been using him [Biden] as a puppet as a Manchurian candidate to drive their radical agenda,” Roy said. “Now they saw the gig is up, that Trump could win, they were hoping they could keep the Manchurian candidate in place, they panicked. It was a controlled panic...He didn’t perform. Now they have what they need to try to push him aside and end-run [Vice President] Kamala [Harris].”
Roy emphasized the constitutional duty to protect the Constitution.
“He’s incapable. We should force Democrats to own it and make a choice. Do you agree, do you believe he’s competent? Let’s make them choose.”
The 25th Amendment was proposed by Congress in 1965 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and ratified by all 50 states in 1967.
It establishes procedures for replacing the president or vice president under certain circumstances.
It was first invoked in 1973 after Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and again in 1974 after President Richard Nixon resigned.
