Top House Dems signal openness to 25th Amendment push

• Congressional Democrats largely repudiated the notion of pursuing long-shot maneuvers like impeachment or the 25th Amendment a year ago.
• But the political cost of opposing even the most drastic anti-Trump tactics has risen considerably. Democratic lawmakers don't want to get an earful from the party faithful for being insufficiently combative.

Driving the news: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday that Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) will host a virtual briefing Friday afternoon "on Trump administration accountability and the 25th Amendment."

• "Shockingly, Donald Trump threatened to escalate his war of choice in a profane Easter Sunday rant and to eradicate an entire civilization," Jeffries wrote, referring to Trump's Truth Social posts.
• "We will continue to unleash maximum pressure on Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping the madness."

State of play: Trump's declaration Tuesday on Truth Social that "a whole civilization will die tonight" if the Iranian regime did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz led to an eruption of calls from Democratic lawmakers for his removal.

• More than 85 House Democrats, along with a pair of Democratic senators, called for Trump to be impeached or for Vice President J.D. Vance and the Cabinet to convene and remove Trump by invoking the 25th Amendment.
• The calls persisted even after a two-week ceasefire was announced on Tuesday evening.
• But Jeffries and many in his leadership roster did not touch that idea, instead demanding Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) call the House back from recess and hold a vote on their Iran war powers resolution.

What we're hearing: One senior House Democrat said it was a factor that dozens of members went public with calls to invoke the 25th Amendment.

• Lawmakers were "very, very frustrated" with Trump's comments on Tuesday, this Democrat said, adding that leadership faced private pressure to take a stronger approach.
• "It's where the electorate is," said a senior House progressive. "Trump's actions the last couple days were scary."
• Still, Jeffries and his top deputies have not gone as far as many of their members in explicitly calling for Vance and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.

The other side: "I personally think it's a fools errand," grumbled one centrist House Democrat.

• Another Democrat, asked why Jeffries took this step, told Axios they have "no damn idea."

Zoom out: In addition to Raskin's briefing, Jeffries announced that Democrats will try to get unanimous consent to pass an Iran war powers resolution at the House's pro forma session Thursday morning.

• Republicans will undoubtedly block that attempt, but it signals that Democrats are feeling more bullish about the prospects of passing the measure when the House returns to session next week.
• House Democrats will hold a press conference on the Capitol steps after the pro forma, Jeffries said.

What they're saying: "There is tremendous angst in the country about Trump's deranged threats to commit war crimes," Raskin, who has publicly called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, told Axios.

• "The Constitution is not perfectly designed for an emergency like this, but the 25th Amendment is definitely the closest avenue we have for a federal response."
• Raskin noted that the Amendment allows Congress to appoint their own "body" to adjudicate the president's fitness for office, "in addition to calling on the Vice President and Cabinet to act responsibly, which is admittedly not an ideal solution."