(4-15-26) House Democrats led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) officially introduced legislation that would establish a special commission to evaluate whether the president can carry out the duties of the office under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

The bill creates a 17-member Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office.  Members would include retired high-ranking officials, physicians, and psychiatrists appointed by leaders from both parties, with no current officeholders or active military members.  It would formally set up the mechanism Congress can use — alongside the Vice President — to determine whether the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office” under the 25th Amendment. 

This commission is essentially the body that Section 4 of the 25th Amendment was envisioned to provide but that Congress never established previously.  

About 50 House Democrats have cosponsored the legislation.