Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is slated to introduce a resolution condemning Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for “politicizing the 25th Amendment.”
The resolution comes after the California Democrat expressed support for a bill that would create a “Commission on President Capacity” to gauge whether the president is capable of serving in the role and invoke the 25th Amendment if needed.
The 25th Amendment lays out the presidential line of succession and authorizes the vice president and a member of the Cabinet to declare if the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
Republicans have deemed the Democratic-led bill — which was unveiled the week after the president was diagnosed with COVID-19 — a publicity stunt ahead of Election Day, though Pelosi argued the legislation is not intended to be a direct swing at President Trump.
“This is not about President Trump. He will face the judgment of the voters, but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents,” Pelosi told reporters on Friday.
Loeffler, who is in a heated battle against fellow Trump-ally Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) to retain her position in the upper chamber, blasted the bill as a power grab by Democrats.
“Today’s announcement by Speaker Pelosi is just her latest scheme to attack President Donald J. Trump. From the day President Trump was sworn in, Nancy Pelosi has tried to overturn the results of the 2016 election,” she said in a statement.
“From the Russia collusion hoax to the sham impeachment and now the 25th Amendment farce, Nancy Pelosi has disgraced the office of Speaker in a desperate attempt to rig the system and seize power. If she is still serious about holding office, she should put a mask on, hit the salon and respect the election results when Donald Trump is re-elected for four more years,” Loeffler said.
The nonbinding resolution states that Pelosi “has failed to put forward a just cause for invoking the 25th Amendment,” alleges that House Democrats have attempted to “delegitimize” Trump’s presidency and accuses Pelosi of setting a “dangerous precedent for the constitutional system of Government in the United States.”
The measure also includes language accusing Democrats of attempting to use the president’s coronavirus diagnosis and the pandemic to “influence the upcoming November elections.”
It is unclear whether the resolution will be brought to the floor for a vote.