Impeach Trump push continues
US Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will proceed with legislation to impeach President Donald Trump unless the vice president and Cabinet invoke constitutional authority to force him out, calling Trump a threat to democracy.
Capitol Police with guns drawn try to stop rioters entering House of Representatives last week. Photo:AP/Andrew Harnik
Pelosi made the announcement in a letter to colleagues, framing it as an ultimatum to Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the powers of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
If not, she said, the House would proceed with impeachment. Trump could become the only president to be impeached twice.
“In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” she said, and added: “The horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”
Pelosi’s plan seeks a vote on Monday on a resolution calling on Pence and Cabinet officials to invoke the 25th Amendment. If it were to pass, Pence and the Cabinet would have 24 hours to act before the House would move toward impeachment.
House Democrats were expected to introduce articles of impeachment on Monday. The strategy would be to condemn the president’s actions swiftly but delay an impeachment trial in the Senate for 100 days. That would allow President-elect Joe Biden to focus on other priorities as soon as he is inaugurated on January 20.
With impeachment planning intensifying, two Republican senators said they want Trump to resign immediately in the wake of deadly riots at the Capitol.
There’s alarm at the risk of more unrest ahead of the inauguration after the president whipped up the mob that stormed the Capitol, sent lawmakers into hiding and left five dead.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Sunday joined Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in calling for Trump to “resign and go away as soon as possible.”
“I think the president has disqualified himself from ever, certainly, serving in office again,” Toomey said. “I don’t think he is electable in any way.”
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, has said an impeachment trial could not begin under the current calendar before Inauguration Day.
While many have criticised Trump, Republicans have said that impeachment would be divisive in a time of unity.
Still, some Republicans might be supportive.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse said he would take a look at any articles that the House sent over. Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic, said he would “vote the right way” if the matter were put in front of him.
-AAP
