WASHINGTON – Congress is back to business after a two-week recess, during which time President Donald Trump threatened genocide in Iran, assailed Pope Leo for being “weak on crime” and posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure.

On Tuesday, faced with questions about the president’s erratic behavior and mental stability over their break, Republicans acted as if none of it ever happened.

In the hallways, GOP senators either walked away or shook their heads when asked if they had any concerns about the president’s particularly unhinged behavior in recent weeks. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) was among them, abruptly ending a conversation with a group of reporters as soon as Trump’s mental health came up.

“No, I don’t have concerns about the president’s mental health,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

Walking away, he shouted back: “He said it was about being a doctor!” referring to Trump’s excuse for the Jesus imagery.

Trump later deleted his post — which depicts him in robes and holding a ball of light in one hand, healing a man with his other hand, as eagles and mutated planes and strange creatures hover above in the skies — after backlash from conservatives and religious figures.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) didn’t mention anything at his weekly press event with reporters. When one reporter asked if he was “comfortable” with Trump last week threatening Iran’s civilian infrastructure and warning that “a whole civilization will die” if Iranian leaders don’t reach a deal with the United States, Thune changed the subject.

“I think what you gotta, again, look at what the president is doing,” said the Republican leader. “I think right now he’s trying to open up the Strait of Hormuz, which I think we are all supportive of, and the efforts that are being made there to further isolate the Iranian regime.”

Even some Catholic Republicans on the Hill, like Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), said they weren’t particularly rattled by the president attacking the Pope.

“Look, I’m a committed Catholic, a proud American, and my role here is to bridge any gaps,” Schmitt told reporters.

“I went to Catholic schools. I’m pretty used to debates that were ‘church doctrine meets public policy and temporal authority,’ so I’m not afraid of it,” he said. “I think a lot of these debates can be healthy, but I think ultimately I’m going to use my energy, again, to bring people together.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who isn’t running for reelection and has felt freer to criticize the administration, declined to get into whether Trump has lost some of his acuity. But he did joke about the president’s bizarre criticism of Pope Leo as “weak on crime.”

“I did check into it,” said Tillis. “If you take a look at the Vatican, the murders per 100,000 is zero. So I’d love for D.C. to aspire to that level.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are taking Trump’s mental fitness more seriously.

“He’s been someone I’ve always said was unfit to be president,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.). “He’s unfit to be commander in chief, and it’s really for his cabinet to determine” if he is unwell enough to be removed from office.

In the House, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) chastised Republicans for acting as if the president’s behavior had been normal.

“He is very obviously deeply unwell,” McGovern said during a committee hearing. “He’s up past midnight attacking the Pope. He’s posting pictures of himself as Jesus ― as a Catholic, I am horrified by that. And I am sick and tired of Republicans acting like this is all OK.”

“The people back home in my district think he is nuts,” he added, “and they want to know when Republicans are going to grow a spine and stand up to this lunatic.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, took steps Tuesday to involve Congress in the president’s removal from office. He introduced legislation that would set up a “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office.” The panel would be staffed by bipartisan appointees to assist the president’s cabinet in removing him from office in the event of his mental incapacitation, per procedures outlined in the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.

“Public trust in Donald Trump’s ability to meet the duties of his office has dropped to unprecedented lows as he threatens to destroy entire civilizations, unleashes chaos in the Middle East while violating Congressional war powers, aggressively insults the Pope of the Catholic Church and sends out artistic renderings online likening himself to Jesus Christ,” Raskin said in a statement.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who chairs that committee, called Raskin’s proposal “ridiculous” and accused Democrats of ignoring former President Joe Biden’s alleged cognitive decline for years.

As for Trump’s Jesus post, Jordan noted it had been deleted. (House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Tuesday he asked Trump to delete it.)

“I mean, come on, the president took down that post. We’re focused this week on a number of big issues,” Jordan told HuffPost, pointing to plans to fund the Department of Homeland Security and reauthorize foreign spying powers. “This 25th Amendment [legislation] is just ridiculous.”

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