Brown calls for invocation of 25th Amendment

On Jan. 7, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, joined the call of other leaders in calling for the invocation of the 25th Amendment.

On Jan. 7, the day after the U.S. Capitol was stormed by supporters of President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, joined the call of other Democratic leaders in calling for the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

“The cabinet and vice president should i mmediately i nvoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, to prevent him from doing more damage between now and Inauguration Day,” Brown said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are among others who have called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked.

When his office was reached for comment on whether he suppor ted the invocation of the 25th Amendment, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio said in a statement, “the actions by a criminal mob to storm our Capitol were shameful and I am proud that it did not stop those of us in Congress from fulfilling our constitutional duty to certify the Electoral College votes for PresidentElect Biden. Last night the president finally acknowledged there will be an orderly transition of power on January 20, something I had called on him to do. Now is the time to bring our polarized country together and ensure an orderly transition of power in 13 days. I look forward to working with the Biden administration on the issues the American people care about.”

Brown further discussed his call for the invocation of the 25th Amendment during a Jan. 8 phone conference with reporters. He called Jan. 6 “one of the darkest days in our country’s history.”

He said that it’s perhaps more likely for the Vice President and Cabinet to make a decision regarding the 25th Amendment the more Senators and Representatives there are calling for its invocation. If the invocation of the 25th Amendment doesn’t happen, then impeachment should be considered, Brown said.

“Those decisions have to be made quickly,” he said. “I think most of us prefer the Vice President and the Cabinet would do it quickly like that. I think it would be better for the country. It would look less partisan and less divided.”

Brown said he didn’t like the presidency of George W. Bush “at all,” but said he “never would have dreamed” of getting in front of cameras or reporters and saying that the 25th Amendment should be invoked.

“I would have said we defeat him in the next election,” Brown said. “But this is beyond something we’ve ever seen and it’s for our national security, there’s just no telling what this president might do in the next 12 days.”

On Jan. 8, Senate leaders of the Homeland Security Committee and Governmental Affairs Committee announced their intentions to hold hearings and conduct joint oversight of “security failures after a criminal mob stormed the Capitol and interrupted the formal count of the Electoral College votes, attempting to subvert American Democracy.”

Portman leads the Homeland Security Committee along with Michigan Democrat Gary Peters. Portman along with Rules and Administration committee leaders Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, and Amy Klobuchar released a statement saying the “violent and criminal acts directed at our Capitol, a symbol of American Democracy, will forever be a stain on our nation’s history.”

“Due to the heroic acts of many, the perpetrators of this attack failed to achieve their goal,” their joint statement read. “It is our duty as bipartisan leaders of the Senate committees with jurisdiction over homeland security, oversight and Capitol operations to examine the security failures that led to Wednesday’s attack.

“Let us be clear: An attack on the Capitol Building is an attack on every American. We plan to conduct oversight and hold bipartisan hearings on these horrific events, and work together to make the necessary reforms to ensure this never happens again.”

Brown, left, and Portman