(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Chip Roy R-Texas, filed a resolution Friday calling for the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to be invoked to remove President Joe Biden from office after his performance at the presidential debate on Thursday night. Biden appeared to have mental and physical difficulties, prompting widespread speculation and criticism in the media and among Democrats.

The resolution calls on Vice President Kamala Harris “to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Joseph Biden incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as Acting President.” It also states Biden “has repeatedly and publicly demonstrated his inability to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency, including, among others, the powers and duties of the Commander-In-Chief.”

In a radio interview, Roy made similar arguments to those of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, saying he doesn't know who would replace Biden as the Democratic nominee ahead on Novembers election. Cruz says it would be former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Roy said, “Democrats have now known this for a long time,” referring to Biden's mental and physical health. “They've been guilty of trying to hide it from the American people. They've been using him [Biden] as a puppet as a Manchurian candidate to drive their radical agenda. They've done that on purpose … now they saw the gig is up, that Trump could win, they were hoping they could keep the Manchurian candidate in place, they panicked. It was a controlled panic, let's have an early debate, we'll see how he performed. He didn't perform. Now they have what they need to try to push him aside and end-run [Vice President] Kamala [Harris].”

Regardless of the Democrats' problems, Roy said, “we have a constitutional duty to protect the Constitution. He's incapable. We should force Democrats to own it and make a choice. Do you agree, do you believe he's competent? Let's make them choose.”

Congress proposed the 25th Amendment in 1965 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. All 50 states ratified it in 1967. It establishes procedures for replacing the president or vice president under certain circumstances. The first time it was invoked was in 1973 after Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned, according to the Congressional Research Service. It was again used in 1974 after President Richard Nixon resigned and when Vice President Gerald Ford, who became president, nominated Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President. It has not been used since.

Calls to invoke the 25th Amendment were made in February by multiple members of Congress after Special Counsel Robert Hur's report cited examples of Biden's mental lapses, describing him as an “elderly man with poor memory,” The Center Square reported.

Before that, and for three years, former White House physician for presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, repeatedly questioned Biden's mental and physical health and called for him to be removed under the 25th Amendment, The Center Square reported.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, agreed with Roy's resolution, saying, “If the need to invoke the 25th Amendment wasn't made abundantly clear last night, it never will be. This is dire. And exactly the kind of situation for which the 25th Amendment was written.”

U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, said if the Hur tapes were released, Biden's cabinet would vote to remove him from office. She told Fox Business, “If we are able to hear that he is incompetent on those tapes,” she said the cabinet “would have to” vote to remove him. “I say that based on last night's performance and the outcry from Democrats from various news outlets from the American people … calling for a new candidate or for him to step aside.”

At a campaign event in North Carolina on Friday, Biden said he wasn't backing down. “I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to… I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job…I know like millions of Americans know; when you get knocked down you get back up.”

After his campaign blamed his poor performance on a cold, co-host of CBS Mornings Gayle King said, “When you have a cold there's many things you can take for it. We didn't know he had a cold until he stood up. A cold doesn't force you to lose your train of thought. A cold doesn't force you to just throw things out randomly that to many people made no sense.

“So how long do we continue to act like that we didn't see what we just saw last night? I thought for many people, the word I keep hearing was, ‘it was very painful to watch.'”

(The Center Square ) – After the murder of a 12-year-old girl in Houston, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he would prioritize two legislative reforms in the legislative session next year.

He made the announcement after citizens called for the accused to receive the death penalty. On June 17, the body of Jocelyn Nungaray was found in a bayou in north Houston, bound and without clothing from the waist down. She was strangled to death, but not without a fight. According to investigators, one of the alleged assailants had bite marks and scratches on his arms when he was arrested.

The men charged with her murder are Venezuelan nationals who illegally entered the country and instead of being processed for removal were released by Border Patrol agents in El Paso earlier this year. The men were charged with capital murder, held in the county jail on $10 million bonds each.

At one perpetrator's arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Megan Long said, “He was talking to his boss, who works in construction, and asking for money, because of what they did, to get out of town.”

At the second's, Long said the accused told a witness “that he had done something bad, that he'd hurt someone, that the person was dead and that he had to finish what he started,” KHOU 11 News reported.

One also turned on the other, saying he tied up Jocelyn and “suggested they throw her into the bayou to get rid of any DNA,” Long told the judge. “But that's coming from the co-defendant. Once we receive the physical evidence, we hope to have a clearer picture of what exactly happened under the bridge.”

Under current law, neither is eligible for the death penalty.

At a news conference last week, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said that if forensic evidence comes back showing Nungaray was sexually assaulted, they could ask for the death penalty and no bond.

The current charge related to strangulation “does not carry death penalty eligibility,” she said. “However, it is important for the public and the press to know that the investigation is ongoing. Forensics and lab work are required in this case and unlike on television they can't do it in an hour.” If the tests come back with “evidence that would support a charge of sexual assault or should other evidence be brought forward that supports the charge of kidnapping, both underlying offenses would make this capital murder and these individuals death penalty eligible,” she said.

“Make no mistake, this is a horrific crime and when we take charges, we do it based on the evidence we have at the moment.”

Ogg also explained that the legislature has changed the law over time related to the death penalty. “Our laws treat the age of victims differently” and the legislature has “changed where they draw the line.” It changed from age six and under to eventually between ages 10 and 15, “but the death penalty was taken off the table by the legislature. Instead, they suggested that life without parole would be the appropriate charge,” she said.

She emphasized that age “is not the only consideration in this case or any case. The underlying actions of the criminals” are.

She encouraged the media and members of the public to ask state lawmakers why the death penalty was taken off the table. “I don't know why,” she said.

On Thursday, Patrick blamed House Democrats and House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, for not having stronger bail reform legislation passed.

After attending Nungaray's funeral on Thursday, Patrick said, “Jocelyn's family was shocked any bail was given in this case. The Texas Senate has passed strong bail reform by Senator [Joan] Huffman [R-Houston] on several occasions with overwhelming bipartisan support. Each time, a few House Democrats and the Republican Speaker, Dade Phelan, killed the bill in the House. If only the House had passed SJR 44 last session, these two alleged killers could have been denied bail.

“I told Jocelyn's mom that the Texas Senate will pass bail reform once again and will not accept the House killing this legislation. It will be named after her daughter as ‘Jocelyn's Law,' so her daughter's name will never be forgotten and will ensure capital murderers are not eligible for bail ever again.”

He also said the new law will allow Texans to vote to amend the Texas Constitution to automatically deny bail for all accused capital murderers.

Patrick also said the Senate will amend another law to make the murder of any child under age 15 a death penalty eligible offense. Currently, the age specification is 10 years-old and younger.

(The Center Square) – A 12-year-old girl's murder in Houston by two Venezuelan men who illegally entered the country and were released by Border Patrol agents has made national and international news with both the White House and former President Donald Trump weighing in ahead of Thursday night's first presidential debate.

When providing an update on the case on Thursday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, a Democrat, told Channel 2 NBC News the perpetrators “should never have been released” into the country. Instead of being processed for removal, federal agents gave them ankle monitors, which Ogg said gives “the public a false sense of security.”

On June 17, Jocelyn Nungaray's body was found in a bayou under a bridge in north Houston. The cause of death was strangulation but her body was found bound, without clothing from the waist down. Forensic evidence has yet to confirm if she was sexually assaulted, Ogg said last week. An aggressive, multi-agency investigation enabled law enforcement officers to locate and arrest her alleged murderers three days later – 22- and 26-year-old Venezuelan men who were illegally in the country.

They both “illegally entered the U.S. without inspection, parole or admission by a U.S. immigration officer on an unknown date and at an unknown location,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

Both were apprehended by Border Patrol agents near El Paso; one in March, the other in May. Both were released on the same day they were apprehended, on an order of recognizance with a “notice to appear” before an immigration judge at a future date, according to ICE.

They currently have immigration holds and are being held in Harris County Jail on $10 million bonds each.

As the investigation continues, Ogg said the Venezuelan government “is not cooperating with the American government right now,” refusing to provide any information about their backgrounds or criminal history. Because they entered the country illegally, she said that makes them a flight risk.

“The bigger problem is our immigration system, the border broken for decades,” she continued. “What's different is we're seeing people from other countries” illegally enter the country in recent years under the Biden administration, she said. They're not just coming from Mexico but “from China, from the islands, from South America, like these individuals. That's new. And I think it's increasing the risk factor for regular people here.”

She also addressed the Biden administration's policy of “catch and release,” one first implemented by the Obama administration and halted by Trump. Instead of processing inadmissible illegal foreign nationals for removal, Border Patrol agents have been ordered to release them into the U.S. with “notice to appear” documents to appear before an immigration judge at a court date years into the future, The Center Square has reported.

They are also given ankle monitors, cell phones for federal agents to reportedly be able to track and locate them. But officials have found the phones are thrown away and the ankle monitors are cut off, as was the case in Houston.

“These two guys were both on ICE holds and they had ankle monitors,” Ogg said. “One of them cut it off. The ankle monitors give the public a false sense of security. We don't rely on them as prosecutors because we see too many problems with folks who are supposed to be under supervision and yet aren't. And that's the case with these two guys.

“They should have never been released when they crossed over in El Paso. But we have a broken system, and Jocelyn's death resulted. And it's just hard when, you know, something could have been prevented. Like a child's death. They're always horrible. But this one in particular was so brutal, this, little girl endured. What? No. Nobody should have to endure.”

In response to Jocelyn's murder, Trump said on Truth Social, “We have a new Biden Migrant Killing – It's only going to get worse, and it's all Crooked Joe Biden's fault. He's a disgrace to the Office of President, he's a disgrace to America. I look forward to seeing him at the Fake Debate on Thursday. Let him explain why he has allowed MILLIONS of people to come into our Country illegally!”

In response, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said, “Donald Trump is making Americans less safe by blocking the border deal.” The administration has blamed Trump for a failed Senate border bill that Senate Democrats voted against even bringing to the floor for a hearing, The Center Square reported.

The alleged Venezuelan perpetrators were among millions who have illegally entered the country who under the law are prohibited entry but were apprehended by Border Patrol agents and released into the country, or were granted entry through new parole programs, all created by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.