President Trump’s mind is becoming a congressional matter.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday his colleagues are getting worried about President Trump’s mental health — amplifying the growing concerns from the past week that Trump’s head isn’t fit for his job.
“I certainly think that there’s an issue with the President’s capability,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“There’s some attribute of his character that makes him seemingly incapable of introspection and a broad understanding of what the country really needs.”
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Schiff said he expected “the pressures of the job” were only going to make Trump’s mental stability “get worse” — and that the President needs “some more adults in the room” to help him focus.
After Trump’s erratic response to a deadly hate group rally in Charlottesville, Va. — in which he repeatedly backtracked on his comments and refused to explicitly condemn the far-right marchers — Congress members on both sides of the aisle questioned if he’s stable enough to remain in the Oval Office.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Trump “has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence” for a successful presidency. Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said Trump had been “showing signs of erratic behavior and mental instability that place the country in grave danger,” and she called for him to be removed through the 25th Amendment, which says a President can leave office if he “is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
(Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) even introduced a bill Friday that would require Trump to undergo a psychiatric exam to see if he “suffers from mental disorder.” But she acknowledged that the bill is unlikely to gain traction.
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Schiff said Sunday he thinks it’s too soon to discuss a 25th Amendment discharge because Congress was “far from concluding” whether Trump is truly unable to hold his job.
The 25th Amendment would require Vice President Pence and Congress to sign off on Trump’s exit, which would lead to Pence immediately becoming President. The amendment does not specifically say whether mental health can be a cause for a President’s removal, and it has never before been used for that reason.
As a President, Trump has faced unprecedented scrutiny for his mental health. The American Psychoanalytic Association in July broke decades of tradition by saying its 3,700 members could “responsibly” comment on the President’s mental fitness. This is a departure from the so-called “Goldwater rule,” which prevented the association’s mental health experts from speculating about public figures they have not personally examined.
Some psychologists have said Trump is also a danger to the mental health of his citizens, and they have started treatments for “President Trump Stress Disorder.”
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Article source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/congress-members-worried-trump-mental-health-article-1.3427368