House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a stark warning to Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday: toss President Trump by invokling the 25th amendment or we’ll launch another impeachment.
Speaking at a press conference the morning after pro-Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in a stunning siege that left four people dead, Pelosi called on Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the provision and remove Trump from office as unfit.
“Yesterday the President of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, accusing Trump of committing “an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people.”
“By inciting sedition like he did yesterday, he must be removed from office,” she went on.
“If the vice president and Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment,” she threatened.
Pelosi’s remarks were echoed by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, soon to be named majority leader, who revealed that he and Pelosi had tried to call Pence on Thursday morning — only to be put on hold by his office.
“Speaker Pelosi and I tried to call the vice president this morning to tell him to do this,” Schumer told reporters in New York. “They kept us on hold for 25 minutes and then said the Vice President wouldn’t come on the phone.”
“So we are making this call public because he should do it and do it right away,” he said.
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment says a president can be involuntarily stripped of his powers if he’s deemed incapable of fulfilling his duties.
It would allow Pence and a majority of Trump’s cabinet members to vote to install Pence as the commander-in-chief.
Members of the GOP on Thursday also began to break rank and turn on the president in the wake of the violent siege which took place after thousands of people in town for a Trump rally marched to the Capitol, overpowered police, and terrorized lawmakers and their staff who were gathered to vote on Joe Biden’s electoral college victory.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Thursday became the first Republican to call for Trump to be removed via the 25th Amendment.
“Here’s the truth: the president caused this. The president is unfit and the president is unwell. And the president must now relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily,” said Kinzinger, a frequent critic of Trump.
“All indications are that the president has become unmoored, not just from his duty, nor even his oath, but from reality itself,” Kinzinger continued.
“It’s for this reason that I call for the vice president and members of the cabinet to ensure the next few weeks are safe for the American people and that we have a sane captain for the ship,” he said.
“Until the president is able to himself, it’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment and to end this nightmare.”
According to various reports, some cabinet members have begun discussing this, but it’s unclear whether they would take such a dramatic step with only two weeks remaining in Trump’s presidency.
A number of staff have quit in the wake of the Capitol violence. On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, became the first cabinet member to resign.
Former Attorney General William Barr on Thursday also accused Trump of betraying his office and “orchestrating a mob” to attack Congress in a sharp rebuke of his former boss.
“Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable. The President’s conduct yesterday was a betrayal of his office and supporters,” Barr said in a statement to the Associated Press.
Barr, the nation’s top law enforcement officer and one of Trump’s most loyal cabinet members, resigned his post at the head of the Justice Department last month as Trump ratcheted up pressure on him to investigate his political enemies.
Dozens of Democrats have already called on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and on Thursday morning were circulating drafted articles of impeachment.
Thousands of the president’s supporters rushed to the Capitol on Wednesday after attending a rally outside the White House where Trump delivered a fiery speech claiming the election had been stolen from him.
“We will never concede,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “You don’t concede when there’s theft.
“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,” he said.
“I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” he went on.
The Republican Party — once unconditionally loyal to Trump — dramatically split from the president Wednesday during a joint session of Congress to certify Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) accused the president of spreading “sweeping conspiracy theories” and rejected the effort to overturn the election.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of Trump’s closest allies on the Hill, also declared “enough is enough” when the Senate returned to finish its work after the violent melee.