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As the United States recovers from a violent attack on Capitol Hill that left five dead, Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing Republicans to take sides – for or against President Donald Trump .
Alarmed by Trump’s incitement to mob violence on January 6, House Speaker Pelosi said on Monday that the president posed an “imminent threat” to the nation and “must be removed from office immediately” .
“The president instigated a deadly insurgency against America that targeted the very heart of our democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement.
The House is expected to take action on Tuesday calling on Vice President Mike Pence and members of Trump’s cabinet to invoke a process under the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the removal of a president deemed unfit to perform their duties.
Two cabinet secretaries, Elaine Chao and Betsy DeVos, have resigned following the attack on the Capitol. But Pence and the remaining Cabinet secretaries, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have given no indication that they will take the extraordinary step of removing Trump from office.
Democrats had attempted to introduce the bill requiring Pence to return Trump to the House by unanimous consent on Monday, but were blocked by Republicans.
“House Republicans have rejected this legislation to protect America, allowing the president’s disorderly, unstable and deranged acts of sedition to continue,” Pelosi said.
Democrats are now considering forcing a vote on the measure on Tuesday night, a measure intended to put pressure on Republicans and serve as a pretext for an impeachment vote the next day.
House Democrats introduced a single charge of insurgency in an impeachment article against Trump on Monday.
By rallying a crowd of angry political supporters in Washington and urging them to march on Capitol Hill to interfere with Congressional certification of Biden’s election victory, Trump “has willfully incited violence,” according to the article.
Trump has “gravely threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and endangered a coordinated branch of government,” the article continued.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday found 52% of Americans believe Trump should be removed from office and 56% blamed him for the assault on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, the FBI has warned law enforcement that social media posts indicated Trump supporters were planning more violent protests in Washington and state capitals across the country ahead of Biden’s inauguration on the 20th. January.
The National Guard is deploying at least 10,000 troops in Washington and is awaiting requests for 5,000 more from state governors.
For now, most Republican politicians appear to continue to support Trump, although some have expressed a desire to see him step down before his term ends.
Members of the Army National Guard arrive at the U.S. Capitol days after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in Washington on January 11, 2021 [Erin Scott/Reuters]
Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy told colleagues on Monday that he remained opposed to the president’s impeachment but would be open to other measures, including censorship, Bloomberg reported.
“Personally, I continue to believe that impeachment at this time would have the opposite effect of bringing our country closer together as we need to put America back on the path of unity and civility,” McCarthy said in a letter. to Republicans.
A few Republicans are calling for Trump’s impeachment, and a growing number of companies have announced that they will not back Republicans who voted against certification of Biden’s constituency.
Representative Adam Kinzinger released a statement Jan. 7 asking Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to impeach Trump, while Republican Senators Pat Toomey and Lisa Murkowski called on Trump to step down.
Ben Sasse, another Republican senator, said he was open to impeachment proceedings.
Biden, meanwhile, called for the responsibility of all those who stormed the Capitol, but said it was up to Congress to decide what to do to impeach Trump.
President-elect Joe Biden has said he does not want a Trump impeachment trial to interfere with progress in securing a new round of COVID-19 relief legislation or confirming his candidates to lead its administration. [Susan Walsh/AP Photo]
Biden said he has asked Senate leaders to consider dividing their time between any impeachment trial and consideration of his top priorities: additional spending on COVID-19 relief and confirming his candidates.
“My priority is to get a stimulus bill passed first and second, to rebuild the economy,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware on Monday after receiving his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
It is unclear when the Senate might initiate House impeachment proceedings. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell will face pressure from most of his Republican caucus to block such action.
But Democrats are expected to take control of the Senate once two Democrats who won the second round of elections in Georgia are seated no later than January 23.
Trump would no longer be in office, but he can still be tried on the House impeachment charges. If found guilty by the Senate, he would be barred and disqualified from running for president again in 2024.
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