Ken Buck unveils resolution calling on Cabinet to remove Biden under 25th Amendment

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) introduced a resolution Monday that calls on the Cabinet to remove President Biden through the 25th Amendment, citing his mental and physical health.

Buck’s resolution relies on a report released this month by special counsel Robert Hur, which cleared Biden of criminal wrongdoing for his handling of classified information after he left the White House in 2017. 

“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,” Buck wrote in a statement to The Hill. “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.”

In his report, Hur said that Biden struggled to remember dates and important events, and described the president as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” Biden strongly denounced the characterization.

“The societal challenges and security threats our country faces are innumerable and require a chief executive with both strong mental and physical faculties,” Buck continued. “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 enables the Cabinet, led by the vice president, to remove the president from their duties if they determine they are unable to perform them. The power has never been used, but it was floated by Trump critics after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and by Republicans in recent months regarding Biden. 

Multiple Republicans have floated the use of the 25th Amendment to remove Biden following the Hur report, but Buck’s resolution is the first official effort in Congress to encourage action from the Cabinet.

Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R) previously called on Biden’s Cabinet to consider such a measure. Trump himself floated the idea last September.

The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Biden campaign for comment.