OPINION:
Recent headlines suggesting that Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland Democrat, can “invoke” the 25th Amendment are misleading and constitutionally incorrect (Democrats strategize removing Trump from office to stop Iran war,” Web, April 9).
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment is clear: Only the vice president, acting with a majority of the Cabinet, can initiate a declaration of presidential inability. Congress has no authority to start that process.
This is not interpretation; it is text. In Section 4’s 143 words, “Vice President” appears six times. “Congress” appears only as a recipient of written declarations and as an arbiter if the president contests those declarations.
Congress cannot initiate removal. It cannot bypass the vice president, nor can it substitute a commission for the constitutional role of the executive.
Media ignore three firewalls: First, Congress cannot initiate Section 4; second, any commission requires presidential approval; and finally, even if a commission existed, the vice president would have to concur.
The public deserves accuracy. Congress cannot invoke the 25th Amendment, and suggesting otherwise misleads Americans about the limits of legislative power.
GARY N. DARBY
Mesa, Arizona
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