I read the same Opinion column by Rep. Earl Blumenauer that David Eastman responded to in his Feb. 18 letter. Yet I came away with a completely different understanding of Rep. Blumenauer’s proposal than Eastman.
Eastman wrote that Blumenauer wants to make it easier to impeach President Trump (“In my Opinion,” Feb. 15). But nowhere in his column did Blumenauer even mention the process of impeachment of a president. Impeachment has been a provision of the Constitution since its adoption in 1789 and is addressed in Articles I and II. Instead, Blumenauer proposed closing a gap in the vague language of the 25th Amendment that calls for “such other body as Congress may by law provide” to consider the removal from office of a president when serious health conditions prevent the president from carrying out the responsibilities of the presidency.
Blumenauer’s proposal is to define the membership of that “other body” and that it should include a majority of former presidents and vice-presidents since they are in the best position to understand what it means to serve in that high office. That makes a lot of sense to me. sahabet giri? The 25th Amendment process, for health reasons, is a distinctly different process than impeachment, which is removal from office for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
— Martha Peck Andrews, Northeast Portland
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