The House Democratic leadership has called for lawmakers to return to Washington immediately to hold a vote to end the Iran war. The statement, signed by Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and other top House Democratic lawmakers, said President Trump is “completely unhinged” and that a vote is necessary to stop the president before he “plunges the country into World War III.”, reported the Wall Street Journal.
The House is currently out of session until Monday. A bipartisan War Powers Resolution opposing the war in Iran previously failed by a 212-219 vote in the House in March, as lawmakers largely voted along party lines.
The reticence expressed by Democrats about removing President Donald Trump from office — even after he ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and attacked Iran without seeking congressional approval — quickly fell away after his latest threat to Iran.
“This is a threat of genocide and merits removal from office. The President’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., posted to X on Tuesday. “To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat.”
The chance of Trump being removed from office is low, and his Cabinet members — who would have to play an active role in invoking the 25th Amendment — routinely publicly praise him.
According to CNBC, talk of removal began even before the Tuesday Truth Social post, after Trump started the clock on Iran with an Easter Sunday post threatening to attack Iranian bridges and power plants if the country did not soon make a deal.
The reticence expressed by Democrats about removing President Donald Trump from office — even after he ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and attacked Iran without seeking congressional approval — quickly fell away after his latest threat to Iran
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement late Tuesday that Trump should be removed from office one way or another. “If the Cabinet is not willing to invoke the 25th Amendment and restore sanity, Republicans must reconvene Congress to end this war.” Pelosi said.
Even his close Republican supporters like Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson broke with Trump on his threats to bomb Iran’s civilian infrastructure, saying in a podcast Monday, “I hope and pray” he is “using this as bluster.”
“I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure … We are not at war with the Iranian people. We are trying to liberate them,” Johnson, a Trump ally who rarely breaks with the president, said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast, reports ABC News.
But in reality, as per CNBC reports neither impeachment nor the use of the 25th Amendment is likely at the moment, with Republicans in control of both chambers and no open revolt within the Trump administration over the Iran war.
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment has never been invoked and would require buy-in from Vice President JD Vance, the Cabinet and eventually two-thirds of Congress if Trump argued he is not incapacitated.
Vance, who would assume the role of president if the 25th Amendment were invoked, on Tuesday lauded Trump from a stage in Budapest where he spoke in support of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Even his close Republican supporters like Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson broke with Trump on his threats to bomb Iran’s civilian infrastructure, saying in a podcast Monday, “I hope and pray” he is “using this as bluster.”
Even a Jewish leader in the US has decried President Trump’s threat to destroy “a whole civilisation” as his deadline for Iran nears. “We know what it means when leaders call for communities and populations to be wiped out,” Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, says in a statement. “Any suggestion that this advances Jewish or Israeli safety is simply an exploitation of our community to advance horrific war crimes and the President’s broader extreme anti-democratic agenda”, reports Times of Israel.
She urged people to recognise “multiple truths” that Iran’s government is repressive and dangerous, but the Trump administration is increasingly flouting its constitutional and humanitarian obligations.
In its analysis the news website The Hill dissecting the president’s post on Truth Social says that let’s just strip away the shock value for a moment and consider what this represents in practical terms. This is not a stray remark at a rally. Nor was it a misstatement quickly corrected by staff. This is a public declaration, directed at a geopolitical adversary, during an active and escalating international crisis.
And it also raises a question that Washington has spent years trying to avoid: What happens when the risk is not external, but presidential?
The 25th Amendment to the American Constitution was not written for partisan convenience. It was designed for moments when the continuity and stability of executive decision-making come into question. Its purpose is not to punish a president but to protect the country.
Even a Jewish leader in the US has decried President Trump’s threat to destroy “a whole civilisation” as his deadline for Iran nears. “We know what it means when leaders call for communities and populations to be wiped out,” Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, says in a statement
For decades, the 25th Amendment has been treated as politically radioactive. That made sense when the threshold was hypothetical or remote. But it makes far less sense when real concerns are playing out in real time, in full public view, during a potential military escalation in one of the most volatile regions in the world.
This is not about ideology, too. It is not about whether one supports or opposes the administration’s broader policies. It is about capacity. The presidency demands a level of judgment that is measured, deliberate and anchored in an understanding of consequence. Words spoken — or posted — by a president are not just rhetoric. They are signals. Markets react to them. Allies interpret them. Adversaries test their elasticity.
When those signals become erratic, inflammatory, or untethered from strategic coherence, the risk is not abstract. It is immediate.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, Trump announced a two-week ceasefire but it did not assuage his critics. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, posted to X after the announcement that he was “glad Trump backed off and is desperately searching for any sort of exit ramp from his ridiculous bluster.”
The sole driving force behind president Trump’s war against Iran is evident from his statement on April 7, when he said that the United States could take control of Iranian oil resources as part of the outcome of the ongoing conflict, framing it as a potential economic return for military action.
“If I had my choice… yeah, because I’m a businessman first,” Trump said when asked about securing Iran’s oil. He pointed to past US actions elsewhere to justify the idea.
For decades, the 25th Amendment has been treated as politically radioactive. That made sense when the threshold was hypothetical or remote. But it makes far less sense when real concerns are playing out in real time, in full public view, during a potential military escalation in one of the most volatile regions in the world
He framed the approach as a departure from past US policy. “To the victor belong the spoils… we haven’t had that in this country probably in 100 years,” Trump said.
This sort of thinking or justification of his actions, shows that President Trump is not guided by any strategy, rule of law or other obligations but just by money.
Though charges of nepotism were levelled against Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden also, but no POTUS himself has brazenly spoken about earning money from global crises, as the current one.
-The writer is a New Delhi-based senior commentator on international and strategic affairs, environmental issues, an interfaith practitioner, and a media consultant. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily carry the views of Raksha Anirveda
