Diyar Guldogan
15 April 2026•Update: 15 April 2026
US Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced legislation Tuesday to establish a long-envisioned independent body under the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aiming to formalize procedures for evaluating presidential fitness amid mounting concerns about President Donald Trump.
“Public trust in Donald Trump’s ability to meet the duties of his office has dropped to unprecedented lows as he threatens to destroy entire civilizations, unleashes chaos in the Middle East while violating Congressional war powers, aggressively insults the Pope of the Catholic Church and sends out artistic renderings online likening himself to Jesus Christ.
"We are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress to fulfill its responsibilities under the 25th Amendment to protect the American people from an increasingly volatile and unstable situation,” Raskin, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
The proposed legislation would create a “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office,” a nonpartisan panel authorized under Section 4 of the amendment but never implemented by Congress since its ratification in 1967.
The commission would serve as a legislative counterpart to the Cabinet, empowered to work alongside the vice president in determining whether a president is able to fulfill the responsibilities of the office.
Section 4 allows the vice president, together with either a majority of the Cabinet or a congressionally established body, to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
Under the proposal, congressional leaders from both parties would appoint 16 members to the commission, drawing from retired senior officials such as former presidents, vice presidents, Cabinet secretaries, attorneys general and surgeons general.
In addition, leaders would appoint physicians and psychiatrists to provide medical expertise. Those members would then select a 17th member to serve as chair.
To avoid conflicts of interest, current elected officials, federal employees and active-duty military personnel would be barred from serving.
Several lawmakers have urged that Trump be either impeached or declared unfit for office under the 25th Amendment.
A total of 50 House Democrats are original cosponsors of the legislation, according to the statement.
In a letter to White House physician Capt. Sean Barbabella, Raskin formally requested last week a comprehensive cognitive and neurological evaluation of Trump, citing growing concerns about the president’s public statements about the war with Iran.
