Rep. Ken Buck Calls on Harris to Remove Biden via 25th Amendment

‘The time has come for the vice president and the cabinet to put our country first and move forward on invoking the 25th Amendment.’

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) is seen in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill, on Dec. 13, 2019. Patrick Semansky/Pool/Getty Images

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) introduced a resolution to call on Vice President Kamala Harris to oust President Joe Biden by activating the 25th Amendment amid growing concerns over his mental fitness.

In the resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 26, Mr. Buck cited, among other incidents, Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report that raised concerns about President Biden’s mental fitness and called into question his mental acuity for the role of president.

“The Hur report officially addressed what many Americans have long witnessed with their own eyes, that President Biden is no longer fit to successfully discharge the critical duties of his office,” Mr. Buck said in a press release. “Numerous instances were articulated in the report and have played out in full public view, showing President Biden’s apparent cognitive decline and lack of mental stamina.”

Mr. Buck’s resolution calls on Vice President Harris to use her powers under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to convene the cabinet to “declare President Joseph R. Biden incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as Acting President.”

The move comes amid the recent release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on the investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified documents. The report described President Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” The report also referred to the president’s mental fitness as “hazy,” “significantly limited,” and showing signs of “diminished faculties and faulty memory.”

Following the report, President Biden held a press conference, dismissing the special counsel’s findings. “My memory is fine,” President Biden said angrily amidst intense questioning from the press. But he mixed up the presidents of Mexico and Egypt during the press conference.

‘The Time Has Come’

The White House also refuted the report’s findings about the president’s memory, calling them “gratuitous” and “politically motivated.”

Mr. Buck noted the importance of strong mental fitness for the U.S. president during this critical time, urging Ms. Harris and the cabinet to take action. “The societal challenges and security threats our country faces are innumerable and require a chief executive with both strong mental and physical faculties,” Mr. Buck said. “The time has come for the vice president and the cabinet to put our country first and move forward on invoking the 25th Amendment.”

The 25th Amendment lays out the constitutional process for removing a president who has been deemed unable to discharge the responsibilities of his office.

The amendment can be invoked by the vice president and a majority of the president’s cabinet, “or of such other body as Congress may by law provide,” by transmitting their written declaration of the president’s incapacity to the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House. At that point, the vice president would assume the office of acting president.

Mr. Buck is known for his past criticism of GOP impeachment efforts against President Biden. Later, he joined with House Republicans to formalize the impeachment inquiry. He is also one of the only three GOP lawmakers who voted against the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Feb. 13.

Harris ‘Ready to Serve’

The resolution from Mr. Buck followed several calls from GOP lawmakers to take the same action amid concerns over President Biden’s mental health. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to consider such action, while West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey encouraged Ms. Harris to make the move.

Before the release of Mr. Hur’s report, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ms. Harris said she was “ready to serve” when asked if she could convince Americans she was up for the job amid rising concerns about President Biden’s age.

Joe Biden, 81, is the oldest sitting U.S. president. Polls have revealed that the majority of voters expressed concerns about his mental fitness. A recent NBC News poll found that 72 percent of Americans are skeptical about the president’s age.

Samantha Flom contributed to this report.