Story highlights The 25th Amendment was adopted in 1967 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy

"Are (Democrats) really suggesting that (Trump's) incapacitated by tweet?" Jonathan Turley said

(CNN) Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin is urging his colleagues to get behind a bill that could potentially oust President Donald Trump if he was mentally or physically unfit to lead, and the Maryland Democrat is citing the 25th Amendment of the Constitution as his legal backup.

Talk of the 25th Amendment, which Raskin first initiated in April, intensified following Trump's relentless attacks on the news media through a series of controversial tweets last week.

The amendment was adopted in 1967, less than four years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, to establish procedures in case the president or vice president are unable to perform their duties.

According to constitutional scholars Jonathan Turley and Gloria Browne-Marshall, the amendment has historically been used in cases of physical incapacitation. Attempting to apply it to prove mental or emotional incapacity is not only "premature," they say, but its success would be nearly impossible.

Despite the fact that two dozen Democrats have signed on to the effort as of last Thursday, there is virtually no chance that this effort will move forward. One path requires a formal declaration from the vice president and the Cabinet that the President is unable to perform his duties. When the 25th Amendment was used in the past in cases when the President was physically unable to lead, there was no debate over whether the President was fit to perform his duties.

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