Rep. Doug Collins Announces Resolution to Remove Pelosi as Speaker

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds her weekly press briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 1, 2020. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) said on Monday that he is introducing a resolution calling for the removal of Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as house speaker, citing concerns about her mental fitness.

“It’s clear that Nancy Pelosi does not have the mental fitness to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives. I’m introducing a resolution to push for her removal,” Collins said in a tweet.

Collins alleged erratic behavior and unconstitutional actions on Pelosi’s part.

“Nancy Pelosi’s unwillingness to abide by the Constitution, combined with her recent actions, call into question her own mental fitness. It’s critical that the House of Representatives demand her removal from the line of succession,” Collins said in a separate tweet.

According to a draft of the resolution obtained by Fox News, the resolution alleges Pelosi “has spent the majority of the House of Representative’s time pursuing baseless and fruitless investigations” against President Donald Trump, including the inquiry around his impeachment.

“On Oct. 31, 2019, Speaker Nancy Pelosi oversaw the first party-line vote to begin an impeachment inquiry into a president in the history of our country,” the resolution states.

After the House of Representatives voted last December to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, the Senate acquitted the president in February.

Collins’s resolution also alleges “bizarre behavior” on Pelosi’s part, singling out her appearance on ABC News where she “appeared confused,” and referencing the fallout from an incident in which she was captured on video at a San Francisco hair salon not wearing a mask, in apparent violation of measures imposed to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Collins’s initiative.

The move comes after Pelosi and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) announced a bill last week to establish a “commission on presidential capacity to discharge the powers and duties of office” that could invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.

According to the Constitution, Section 4 of the 25th Amendment allows Congress to create a body to declare whether a president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

“In emergency situations, Congress could pass a concurrent resolution requiring the commission to examine the president, determine his/her ability to execute the powers and duties of the office, and report its findings to Congress. If presidential incapacity exists, the vice president would immediately assume the role of acting president,” said Raskin’s office in a news release.

Raskin said that the “25th Amendment was adopted 50 years ago, but Congress has never set up the body it calls for to determine presidential fitness in the event of physical or psychological incapacity,” while adding, “Now is the time to do it.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) speaks with reporters after witnesses failed to arrive for testimony before the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 5, 2019. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Pelosi, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Friday, said Trump’s CCP virus infection has raised questions about presidential succession but denied the legislation was specifically aimed at him.

“This is not about President Trump. He will face the judgment of the voters, but he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents,” Pelosi told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference.

“Throughout America’s history, our leaders have created and strengthened guardrails in the Constitution to ensure stability and continuity of government in times of crisis,” she said.

“This legislation applies to future presidents, but we are reminded of the necessity of action by the health of the current president,” she added.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi speaks to the press at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 23, 2020. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images

Republicans have called the Democrat-led bill a publicity stunt ahead of the November election, with Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) criticizing Pelosi for “weaponization of the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in an attempt to attack President Donald J. Trump.”

“Speaker Pelosi’s announcement is just her latest scheme to attack President Donald J. Trump. From the day President Trump was sworn in, Nancy Pelosi has tried to overturn the results of the 2016 election,” Loeffler said in a statement, in which she announced she would be introducing a Senate resolution condemning Pelosi’s “politicization of the 25th Amendment.”

“From the Russia collusion hoax to the sham impeachment and now the 25th Amendment farce, Nancy Pelosi has disgraced the office of speaker in a desperate attempt to rig the system and seize power. If she is still serious about holding office, she should put a mask on, hit the salon, and respect the election results when Donald Trump is reelected for 4 more years,” Loeffler added.

The move to create the commission, along with Pelosi’s comments, represents an escalation in Democrats’ rhetoric that the 25th Amendment needs to be involved because Trump is incapable of leading. The long-shot move, which would likely fail in the Republican-controlled Senate, may also serve to raise doubts about Trump’s leadership with just weeks to go before the presidential election.

In response, the president took to Twitter to post a scathing critique of Pelosi, writing: “Crazy Nancy is the one who should be under observation. They don’t call her Crazy for nothing!”