Initiate the 25th Amendment now

OPINION:

Those videos of President Biden freezing, getting lost in his thoughts, shuffling, slurring his words, wandering off and simply checking out are “cheap fakes,” according to risible talking points the White House is now peddling.

Mr. Biden and his increasingly bizarre behavior have become the punch line for jokes and memes. But cognitive decline isn’t funny; it’s tragic. In that respect, the president deserves our empathy and compassion. But Americans are right to be concerned about the immediate national security and other consequences caused by Mr. Biden’s evident disability.

The White House’s desperate distraction efforts aside, the time has come for Vice President Kamala Harris and the president’s Cabinet to do their duty under the 25th Amendment and consider whether the president’s cognitive issues preclude him from continuing to discharge his duties. As the first step, Mr. Biden’s Cabinet should demand that Mr. Biden undergo medical tests by independent medical experts to determine if he has cognitive or related disability issues.

If this independent review finds the president mentally and otherwise fit to serve, the matter would be closed, helping to dispel concerns reflected in a new poll in which about 65% of voters think Mr. Biden does not have the cognitive ability to serve as president. If the results confirm a cognitive issue, there must be no delay in invoking the 25th Amendment to protect the country.

Specifically, Section 4 of the 25th Amendment states: “Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

Mr. Biden could counter with “his written declaration that no inability exists.” Still, if Ms. Harris and Mr. Biden’s Cabinet respond within four days with their own “written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” it would be then up to Congress:

Thereupon, Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within 48 hours for that purpose if not in session. If Congress, within 21 days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or if Congress is not in session, within 21 days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by a two-thirds vote of both houses that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the vice president shall continue to discharge the same as acting president; otherwise, the president shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

The process is designed to make it difficult to remove Mr. Biden or any president from office without a bipartisan consensus and agreement by the president.

But we have all seen the alarming signs leading up to the present presidential competency crisis. In February, the report from the special counsel investigating Mr. Biden’s mishandling of classified material was recommended against prosecution.

“It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him — by then a former president well into his eighties — of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness,” the report stated. (This explains why the Biden administration is desperately trying to keep the audiotapes of his special counsel interviews secret.)

Mr. Biden’s cognitive issues are a national security issue, which is why America can’t wait for Election Day. The world, including our enemies, is watching and moving. In full view of America’s allies and enemies, several of Mr. Biden’s concerning episodes have occurred on the international stage. Bold actions recently undertaken by China, Iran, Russia and North Korea suggest that an assessment of Mr. Biden’s mental acuity was incorporated into their calculus.

At the June G7 summit in Italy, Mr. Biden’s mental issues were concerning to the world leaders in attendance. He offered Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a strange salute upon his arrival. Indicative of progressive cognitive impairment, Mr. Biden reportedly lost his focus, wandering off before being retrieved by Ms. Meloni and prompting a diplomat to remark that it was “the worst he has ever been.” Attendees from several delegations called it “embarrassing.”

Also in June, Mr. Biden’s mind wandered off at a Juneteenth White House musical performance, as he froze and stared at one of the performers for nearly a minute. At a Los Angeles fundraiser, Mr. Biden froze again before being taken by the arm and led off the stage by former President Barack Obama.

Even Democratic lawmakers concede that a “slower” President Biden “has both good moments and bad ones.” As the man who has the fearful responsibility of having to respond to world crises, including the unthinkable possibility of a nuclear exchange, America can’t afford a president who is having a bad day or whose mind is unable to focus.

I have a simple question: Would any American trust Mr. Biden to be a judge deciding a case in court? The answer is obvious and a bit frightening in its implications, given the consequential daily decisions by a president. Vice President Kamala Harris and the Cabinet need to act now.

• Tom Fitton is president of Judicial Watch, a nonprofit government watchdog organization.