25th Amendment Time?

David Strom 8:00 AM | July 18, 2024
AP Photo/Susan Walsh

The panic in the Democrat Party keeps ramping up, and that is pretty amazing. I thought it hit a fever pitch last week. 

But no, things keep getting worse for the Democrats, and Biden keeps saying he is staying in the race. 

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Nothing has been floated in the media yet, but you can be sure that by now many Democrats are talking about a palace coup--not by the Democrat National Committee or the delegates, but by the Vice President and the Cabinet. 

I have absolutely no data to support my suspicion, so take it as you will. But after a day or two of quiet post-assassination-attempt, Democrats started agitating for Biden to drop out of the race again. 

We all thought it was settled, but Democrats have been looking at their own polls and are freaking out. 

And they have reason to. The polls we see are brutal, and you can be sure that the polls the Democrats are paying for show that the wound is so big that they are in danger of bleeding out unless there is radical surgery. 

Normally, polls in July are not reliable indicators of election outcomes, but two things are different from normal times: Biden's problems have no chance of improving--his dementia will not go away--and more practically speaking, the trend is not the Democrats' friend. Things are getting worse very quickly. 

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CNN — President Joe Biden has said repeatedly that there is a simple cure for his political troubles: Get out there and show the skeptics that he has what it takes to run for – and win – a second term.

Since his disastrous debate performance that sent his party into a tailspin, the president has sat down for numerous interviews, held a rare solo news conference, held calls with factions of the House Democratic Caucus, met with top Democratic leaders and hit the campaign trail. Unfortunately for the president, he has hardly reassured worried Democrats – if anything, the concerns inside his party have only grown more serious.

“Anyone who thinks this is over is mistaken,” said one House Democrat about the ongoing conversations happening behind the scenes.

Another Democratic lawmaker told CNN that Biden’s full court press in recent days following Saturday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has only exacerbated the panic inside the party.

“Getting worse” is how the member put it.

Biden's comeback tour hasn't just been a bust; it has made things dramatically worse, as he keeps showing his infirmity and insulting people with his gaffes and angry outbursts. His recent appearance on BET was not just a flop, but an embarrassment. 

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He's also tacking hard left to shore up his base, but I am pretty sure that Democrats in swing districts and states don't want their presidential candidate going back to a "defund the police" message:

Or showing his dementia by being unable to name his Secretary of Defense, whom he knows only by race but not by name. 

I could go on, but Van Jones gives you a sense of the despair Democrats are feeling:

It doesn't get much more brutal than that assessment. Joe Biden must go. 


While the nation reeled from the shock of an assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday before the political spotlight quickly turned to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Democrats had briefly put their public griping on the backburner. But those in the party who are fearful of Biden remaining their nominee recognize that time is running out to convince the president to change his decision and drop out of the presidential race. The party appears to be quickly approaching an inflection point— either come up with a plan to convince Biden to step aside or begin to rally around him.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told Biden in a recent conversation that polling shows the president cannot defeat Trump and that Biden could destroy Democrats’ chances of winning the House in November if he continues seeking a second term, according to four sources briefed on the call.

Even though anger and panic have been steadily rising inside the Democratic Party for nearly three weeks, the White House and the Biden campaign are in a new place, multiple Democratic officials told CNN.

“The private conversations with the Hill are continuing,” a senior Democratic adviser told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid alienating the campaign and the White House. “He’s being receptive. Not as defiant as he is publicly.”

“He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win,’ to ‘Do you think Kamala can win?” the adviser said. “It’s still unclear where he’s going to land but seems to be listening.”

The panic has fully set in not just among elected officials, but the donor class, as well.

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There are hints being put out there that Joe is more open to the idea of leaving gracefully, but the White House is pushing back very hard against the rumors. From their point of view, the issue is settled.

I tend to believe, given what we know of Biden, that the issue is settled in his mind. 

This leaves us with the ultimate question: will there be a palace coup at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue led by Kamala Harris? Do the Democrats have the guts to take Joe Biden out of the equation by removing him from office using the 25th Amendment? 

It's not simple at all to do so. Not only does it require a tolerance for enormous political risks (including unpredictable international relations consequences), it also requires either some cooperation from the president or a willingness to fight it out in Congress. It isn't a "one and done" declaration of Biden's incapacity. 

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Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
     
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

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In other words, Biden could fight it, and you could play the Democrat civil war out in the halls of Congress. 

Unlikely? In the extreme. 

But you can be sure that there are people in Washington gaming this out. Things are that bad right now for Democrats. 

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