1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

How Much More does Congress Need?  Pressure Cabinet to Invoke the 25th Amendment Now   I am writing as a deeply alarmed American who has run out of patience. The chaos, instability, and national damage caused by President Trump’s behavior have become impossible to ignore, and the country cannot keep pretending this is normal.   The New York Times recently published a front-page story, “Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate,” describing Trump’s recent statements as disjointed, hard to follow, and increasingly alarming. The New York Time’s chief White House correspondent documented a president who threatens to wipe out “a whole civilization” overnight, attacks the Pope on social media, posted an image of himself as Jesus Christ (then deleted it after backlash from his own supporters), and makes statements that are, in the paper’s own words, “disjointed, hard-to-follow,” and rooted in fantasy rather than fact.  And this is just in the last week. It has clearly now reached the point where sane-washed explanations for his mental outburst by his allies are themselves insane.   Even the people around the President—his allies, his supporters, his own former staff — are using words like “lunatic,” “deranged,” and “clearly insane.” Former CIA Director John Brennan has said the 25th Amendment was written for exactly this kind of situation. At least 87 Democratic members of Congress have publicly called for removal or for action under the 25th Amendment. That is significant, but it is still not enough. The scale of the problem demands louder, clearer, and broader leadership from both parties.   The country is watching a president threaten wars of annihilation and attack religious leaders in unhinged late-night posts, and your constituents and the world need to hear you say, loudly and clearly, that this is not normal, that it is not acceptable, and that you are doing everything in your power to protect the country. Restraint is not a virtue right now. Silence is complicity.   History will not be kind to those who saw what was happening and chose their careers over their country. For those who tie their political future to a man who some in his own base is now calling for his removal via constitutional process is not a strategy. It is a gamble with the American people as the collateral.   The 25th Amendment exists precisely for this moment. The Cabinet has both the authority and the obligation to act. Congress has the obligation to push strongly for this. Americans are not asking for a partisan fight. We are asking for adults in positions of power to do their jobs.   How much more evidence do you need?