KEY POINTS

  • Pelosi announced plans for establishing a panel to discuss the 25th Amendment
  • The panel would be made up of bipartisan members appointed by leaders of the House and Senate
  • If Trump is found mentally or physically unfit for office, Pence would take over as acting president

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Thursday her plans of introducing a proposal to establish a panel that will determine whether President Donald Trump is still fit for office.

During her weekly press conference, Pelosi revealed she and fellow Democrats would meet Friday to discuss the 25th Amendment following questions over Trump's health as he recovers from coronavirus.

"Tomorrow, by the way, tomorrow, come here tomorrow. We're going to be talking about the 25th Amendment. But not to take attention away from the subject we have now," she said, referring to stimulus bill talks.

Reporters asked Pelosi whether she believes it is time to invoke the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president to take over in case a president is deemed incapable of fulfilling duties of the office.

Pelosi refused to give an direct answer when asked if she supports enacting the 25th Amendment. However, she said the discussion would be tied to a "lack of transparency" from the White House over Trump's condition, The Hill reported.

"I'm not talking about it today except to tell you, if you want to talk about that, we'll see you tomorrow," she said. "But you take me back to my point, Mr. President, when was the last time you had a negative test before you tested positive? Why is the White House not telling the country that important fact about how this made a hotspot of the White House?"

The measure would create an expert panel, with members appointed by Democratic and Republican leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate. The members would be responsible for conducting an investigation to determine whether the president is mentally and physically fit for office.

According to Fox News, if the panel finds the president "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office," section 4 of the 25th Amendment would allow the vice president to immediately become acting president.

The president fired back at Pelosi's plans in a tweet Thursday afternoon. "Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation," he said. "They don't call her Crazy for nothing!"

Trump has been on a dexamethasone treatment since announcing his coronavirus diagnosis. The steroid, used to reduce lung inflammation in severe COVID-19 patients, can have psychiatric side effects, including rage and psychosis.

"The president is, shall we say, in an altered state right now," Pelosi said Thursday during an interview with Bloomberg TV. "I don't know how to answer for that behavior."

"There are those who say when you are on steroids or have COVID-19, there may be some impairment of judgment," she added.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to spend $2.2 trillion on another US stimulus measure, but Republicans say the bill would cost too much
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to spend $2.2 trillion on another US stimulus measure, but Republicans say the bill would be too much AFP / Nicholas Kamm