Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su laughed off a question about Biden cabinet members invoking the 25th Amendment in a Fox News interview following the latest jobs report on Friday.
“Has there been any conversation among cabinet members about invoking the 25th Amendment?” Fox Business’ Edward Lawrence asked Su in an interview that aired on “America’s Newsroom.”
Su laughed at the question and said, “That’s nonsense.”
“I will say that we’re talking about recognizing that we’re in a moment where… there’s been incredible progress during the time that we’ve been here,” she added. “And we want to keep building on that… we can’t afford to go back ago, we cannot afford to reverse course.”
Friday’s Labor Department data showed the U.S. economy added 206,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.1 percent. These numbers are largely in line with expectations, but add to signs that the economy is cooling under high interest rates.
Su’s comments follow discussion about Biden’s fitness for the presidency and ability to defeat former President Trump in November, spurred by his difficult performance in the presidential debate last week.
Democrats panicked about the performance, while some Republicans suggested Biden’s cabinet should move to remove him from office by invoking the 25th Amendment.
While that almost certainly won’t happen, the discussion among Republicans reflects questions about whether they would prefer to see Trump face off against Vice President Harris.
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment — which has never been used — says that if the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet or Congress find the president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” the vice president shall “immediately assume the powers and duties of the office of Interim President.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called on Biden’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment in a June 29 letter.
“I believe Biden is a decent man who cares about the country,” he wrote. “However, time catches up with everyone and it is clear that its decline is more dire than people imagined and the White House has not been as truthful or transparent as it should have been.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced a resolution the same day urging Harris to convene the Cabinet and declare Biden unable to perform his duties, a move that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also said he supported.
The White House and Biden’s allies responded to those who expressed doubts about the president’s ability to do his job. However, three House Democrats called on Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
“President Biden has done our country an enormous service, but now is the time for him to follow in the footsteps of one of our founding fathers, George Washington, and step aside to allow new leaders to rise up and run against [Trump],” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said Thursday.
In a fundraising email sent Wednesday, Biden said “no one is kicking me out.”
“I am the candidate of the Democratic Party,” the fundraising email says. “No one is kicking me out. I’m not leaving, I’m in this race until the end and WE are going to win this election. If that’s all you need to hear, please contribute some money to help [Vice President Harris] and I will defeat Donald Trump in November.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
