Democrats give Pence 24 hours to oust Trump
If the Veep doesn’t take action against his boss, Dems will launch process to impeach President
WASHINGTON: Democrats plan to pass a resolution in the House of Representatives on Monday calling upon Vice-President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment of the US Constitution to remove President Donald Trump from office, declaring him “unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office”.
They will wait for 24 hours for Pence to do so and then, on Tuesday, will introduce a legislation to impeach the president, charging him with, according to a draft in circulation, “incitement of insurrection” for the January 6 storming of the Capitol by his supporters.
The first part of the Democrats’ plan to remove Trump from office was a demand for him to resign on his own “immediately”. That did not happen.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues on Sunday that a resolution will be moved in the morning that “calls on the vice-president to convene and mobilise the cabinet to activate the 25th amendment to declare the president incapable of executing the duties of his office, after which the vice-president would immediately exercise powers as acting president”. “We are calling on the vice-president to respond within 24 hours,” Pelosi added. “Next, we will proceed with bringing impeachment legislation to the floor.”
Pence is said to have been reluctant over Trump’s removal as president through the use of either the 25th amendment or impeachment, fearing that it could push Trump to act rashly.
But Pence has eventually
retained the option of invoking the 25th amendment if Trump “become more unstable”, according to reports citing sources close to him.
Democrats are moving swiftly to hold Trump responsible for the storming of the Capitol. Inflamed by Trump, supporters stormed the Capitol aiming to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.
They had forced their way in, overpowering the Capitol’s security. They vandalised offices and forced lawmakers to hide wherever they could. They had roamed the corridors chanting “Hang Mike Pence” and
“Where’s Nancy”.
The resolution to oust Trump from the presidency slated to be introduced on Monday will set up the impeachment legislation.
Trump “tweeted to his supporters that ‘Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country’ after the Capitol had been overrun and the vicepresident was in hiding”, the resolution said. People close to Pence have reportedly said the vice-president was disappointed that Trump did not call to check on him and family at the time when they were sheltering for their lives. He has not called up still, reportedly.