WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats are debating Friday whether to move forward with the speedy removal of President Donald Trump if his cabinet does not try to remove him first, acting quickly two days after the U.S. Capitol was sacked by a pro-Trump crowd .
House Democrats plan to hold a meeting at noon, the first since Wednesday’s terrible events at the Capitol, and could resume articles of dismissal against Trump as early as next week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday night discussed the possibility of being fired with her leadership team, hours after announcing that the House was willing to act if Vice President Mike Pence and other officials did not invoke the section 4 of the 25th Amendment: Trump’s blunt removal from power by his own cabinet.
Now five people have died as a result of the violent melee, including police officer Brian Sicknick. Pelosi said in a statement Friday that Sicknick’s death “reminds us of our obligation to those we serve: to protect our country from all foreign and domestic threats.”
He said those responsible for the agent’s death “should be tried.”
Although Trump has been in office for less than two weeks, lawmakers and even some in his administration began discussing options for his removal on Wednesday afternoon, as Trump first encouraged the crowd to march on the Capitol then refused to strongly condemn the violent aggression and seemed to excuse it. .
Rep. Katherine Clark, a member of the Democratic House leadership, said the procedural steps could allow them to move forward much faster than they did in Trump’s ouster last year.
“I can confirm that we have had discussions on this and I hope that the speaker will move forward if the Vice President refuses to do what he is required to do under the Constitution,” said Rep. 3 Democrat, CNN. “Everyone knows this president is baffled.”
One of the main Republican critics against Trump, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, said he would “definitely consider” the removal.
“The president has ignored his swearing-in oath,” Sasse told CBS This Morning on Friday. He said what Trump did was “evil” inciting the crowd to the Capitol.
If the House challenges, “I will definitely consider items that could move,” Sasse said.
Pelosi and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer have called for the Trump cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment to the Constitution to force Trump to step down before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. Schumer said he and Pelosi tried to call Pence on Thursday discussing that option, but were unable to connect with him.
Pelosi, during a new conference, on Thursday challenged several cabinet members, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
“Do they maintain these actions?” Pelosi asked. “Are they ready to say that over the next 13 days this dangerous man can do more harm to our country?”
Most Democrats and many Republicans blamed Trump fully after hundreds of protesters carrying Trump flags and clothing stormed the Capitol on Wednesday and caused massive destruction and evacuations. The president had urged his supporters to protest while Congress had electoral votes confirming Joe Biden’s victory.
Pelosi said a “threshold of such magnitude was crossed” that Trump should not be allowed to make decisions.
Three Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee began distributing indictments on Thursday. Representatives David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Ted Lieu of California wrote in the articles that Trump “intentionally made statements that encouraged and predictably led to imminent illegal action at the Capitol.”
The House indicted Trump in 2019, but the Republican-led Senate acquitted him in early 2020.
Pence has not publicly addressed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment, but that possibility may have faded after two cabinet members resigned Thursday in protest after Trump incited protesters who staged the deadly assault on the Capitol.
Still, senior Trump administration officials raised the possibility of firing from a distance as chaos unfolded in the Capitol. Government officials came to study the procedures for declaring Trump “incapable of fulfilling the powers and duties of his office.”
No cabinet member has publicly expressed support for the move, which would make Pence the incumbent president. But several were believed to be sympathetic to the idea, believing Trump is too volatile in his waning days before Biden took office on January 20th.
Under the 25th Amendment, Trump could discuss his cabinet’s finding, but the cabinet could quickly reaffirm its position, keeping Pence in power as long as the issue falls to lawmakers.
While the House could quickly vote to oust Trump, it is extremely unlikely that Congress will be able to oust the president in the next 13 days. The Senate should receive the articles and then hold a trial and vote on them.
And even if he did, it’s likely the Republican Senate wouldn’t vote to condemn him. Democrats should take the Senate for granted when Biden opens, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell holds the hammer until then.
But in a measure of the awkward position Republican lawmakers had put up with Trump’s insinuation of the mafia, there was a noticeable lack of Republican Party statements attacking Democrats ’requests for his withdrawal.
Biden distanced himself from the push of his fellow Democrats to oust Trump with the 25th Amendment. Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the president-elect, said Biden was focused on taking office on Jan. 20 “and will leave Vice President Pence, the cabinet and Congress to act as they see fit.”
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Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Alexandra Jaffe contributed to this report.