Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) said Democrats are looking for ways to use the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office.
Currently, using the 25th Amendment to remove a president requires a majority of the cabinet to support such a move if they deem he is mentally unfit to discharge his duties.
During a Sunday appearance on MS Now, a host asked, “Do you support using the 25th Amendment? I mean, obviously JD Vance is not the guy to do it. This Cabinet is not going to do it. But your colleague Ro Khanna, who I spoke to earlier this week, was talking about the need for a moral position and moral conviction in taking that position as opposed to just realistically whether or not it would happen.”
“Oh, absolutely. I said that a week ago that we should invoke the 25th Amendment,” Jayapal replied. “As you point out, that is something that unfortunately by the process we have and there was actually a bill that was introduced, I think it was last session by Jamie Raskin to change that process, by the way, should we ever get control of the House back.”
The lawmaker added, “But right now, invoking the 25th Amendment requires the vice president and then requires him to get a majority of the Cabinet. And so I have taken the position that we need to do whatever we can to get him out, impeach him, invoke the 25th Amendment, push for him to resign, whatever it is.”
UNHINGED
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 13, 2026
Democrat Rep. Pramila Jayapal says Democrats will hijack the process to invoke the 25th amendment to no longer require the Vice President if they gain power.
JAYAPAL: “We need to do whatever we can to get him out." pic.twitter.com/gWSqgkkACN
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It’s no secret that if Democrats win back control of the House, they will file articles of impeachment five minutes after they take office. But, as Jayapal indicated, they are exploring legislative action they believe could allow them to get Trump out of office.
Reuters reported on Friday that Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08) plans to reintroduce legislation that would create a commission to oversee presidential removal. He argues that Congress never established the “other body” component of the 25th Amendment that would act with the vice president to remove a president from office.
Raskin led a caucus meeting for House Democrat leadership to look at other ways they can remove Trump.
If a majority of the president’s cabinet declares him mentally unfit, the vice president would take over immediately. However, if the president contests that move, Congress would ultimately decide whether he remains in office. It takes a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress to finalize the president’s removal.
Raskin’s legislation would create an alternative body that would declare whether a president is mentally unfit instead of the cabinet. But the vice president would still have to concur with that body to declare that the commander-in-chief is unable to discharge his duties.
This is more than just a longshot. It appears to be an act of desperation on the part of Democrats. For starters, it won’t be easy to get enough support to pass it — even if Democrats control the House. They understand that a move like this could easily be used against a future Democratic president. Indeed, former President Joe Biden would have been the best target for this maneuver.
Moreover, the host was right: JD Vance is not likely to go along with this, which means that Raskin and his comrades are going to waste more time and taxpayer money to pursue an initiative that will be about as successful as Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign.
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