Biden's labor secretary laughs off 25th Amendment question

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su laughed off a question about President Biden's Cabinet members invoking the 25th Amendment in an interview on Fox News following the latest jobs report Friday.

“Has there been any conversation among the Cabinet members about invoking the 25th Amendment?” Fox Business's Edward Lawrence asked Su in an interview that aired on "America's Newsroom."

Su laughed at the question, then said, “That’s absurd."

“I will say that what we are talking about is recognizing that we are in a moment where …there’s been incredible progress in the time that we’ve been here," she added. "And we want to keep building on it … we cannot afford to go back, 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. Those numbers were largely in line with expectations, but they added to signs that the economy is cooling under high interest rates.

Su’s comments follow discussion around Biden’s fitness for the presidency and ability to beat former President Trump in November, spurred by his rough presidential debate performance last week.

Democrats were sent into a state of panic over his performance, while some Republicans have suggested Biden's Cabinet should move to remove him from office by invoking the 25th Amendment.

While that almost certainly will not happen, the discussion among Republicans reflects questions about whether they would rather see Trump square off against Vice President Harris.

Section 4 of the Constitution's 25th Amendment — which has never been used — says that if the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet or Congress deem the president as “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” the vice president should “immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called on Biden’s Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment in a letter on June 29.

“I believe Biden is a decent man who cares about the country,” he wrote. “However, time catches up with everyone, and it’s clear his decline is more dire than people realized and the White House has not been as truthful nor transparent as it should have been.”

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) introduced a resolution that same day urging Harris to convene the Cabinet and declare Biden unable to carry out his duties, a move that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also said he supported.

The White House and Biden allies have pushed back against those who have stated their doubts about the president’s ability to do his job. However, three House Democrats have called for Biden to step out of the presidential race. 

“President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washington’s, footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against [Trump],” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said Thursday.

In a fundraising email sent Wednesday, Biden said “nobody is pushing me out.”

“I’m the Democratic Party’s nominee,” the fundraising email reads. “No one is pushing me out. I’m not leaving, I’m in this race to the end, and WE are going to win this election. If that’s all you need to hear, pitch in a few bucks to help [Vice President Harris] and me defeat Donald Trump in November.”