U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- Calif.) unveiled legislation on Friday to create a Congressional commission to assess the president's ability to lead the country or be removed under the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The bill would set up a 17-member commission, included health personnel and former members of the executive branch, to determine the fitness of the president to serve.

“What happens if a president, any president, ends up in a coma or on a ventilator and has made no provisions for the temporary transfer of power,” Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who sponsored the bill, said.

Tensions between the House Speaker and the White House have been growing in recent weeks, following the news that U.S. President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 days after the first presidential debate with contender Democrat Joe Biden.

Pelosi has been raising questions over the president's mental fitness and leading the call for more transparency about his health.

However, Pelosi stated that this legislation was not specifically about Trump.

“This is not about President Donald Trump – he will face judgment of the voters,” Pelosi told reporters at the U.S. Capitol.

The announcement came after Trump abruptly halted COVID-19 aid talks with the House, only to restart talks after the economy stumbled. Talks between Democrats and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are back on.

What is the 25th amendment?

In the U.S. constitution, the 25th Amendment outlines the transfer of power, “In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.”  The amendment also explains the general political line of succession in the U.S. executive branch.

Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the amendment was passed and ratified by Congress in 1967.

Has the 25th amendment been invoked?

The amendment has been used on at least three occasions.

First following the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974, which lead to Vice President Gerald Ford taking over.

It has also been used temporarily when then-presidents were out of commission during medical procedures.

Ronald Reagan handed over his duties to then Vice-President George H.W. Bush on July 1985 when he underwent surgery to remove cancerous polyps.

George W. Bush temporarily relinquished his powers but did not invoke the whole amendment twice during his presidency, handing power over briefly to then Vice President Dick Cheney in 2002 and 2007 as he underwent colonoscopies.

Who becomes the next President in the U.S. line of succession?

We explain the line of succession in the U.S. executive branch. 

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