Newsom ‘ all for’ impeachment; Assembly urges Trump’s ouster
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that he supports removing President Trump from office through impeachment or the 25th Amendment, but he said he’s not spending much time thinking about the effort.
The state Assembly is, however — it voted Monday to urge Congress to remove Trump if he doesn’t quit.
“I’m all for it,” Newsom said during a news conference in Sacramento County, when asked if he supports Trump’s impeachment. “But that’s not my focus right now. My focus, candidly, is on you and your family and your safety as it relates to issues associated with getting us through this very challenging wave in this pandemic. And so that’s where my energy flows right now.”
Newsom declined to answer the question during a news conference on Friday, saying he was focused on presenting his proposed budget.
The Democraticcontrolled House is expected to impeach Trump as early as Wednesday, seeking to remove the president over his role in inciting the violent mob that attacked the U. S. Capitol last week.
Democrats have urged Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s Cabinet to try to remove him under the 25th Amendment, which allows for
the vice president to take over for a president unable to perform his duties. Pence has indicated no intention of doing so.
California lawmakers also threw their support behind the push Monday. On its first day back in session, the state Assembly voted 516 to pass a resolution calling on Trump to resign or be removed from office.
Although largely backed by Democrats, the resolution was
brought to the floor by independent Assembly Member Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley ( San Bernardino County), who left the Republican Party in 2019 over frustration that he could not push the party in a more moderate direction. He said accountability and repentance for the Capitol riot were needed for the nation to heal.
“The president’s nonstop
unsubstantiated and false claims that the election was rigged and fraudulently stolen from him were the sparks that lit the fire that has now engulfed our nation,” Mayes said on the Assembly floor. “This American carnage lays at the feet of only one person.”
All six votes against the resolution were cast by Republicans, and no
Republicans voted for it. Assembly Member Devon Mathis, a Republican from Visalia ( Tulare County), said the resolution’s supporters were focusing on the wrong priorities while the state is grappling with the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have people dying of COVID. We have areas of our state where families still can’t put food on their table,” he said. “But instead the first thing we do on the floor in California is throw a political punch at a lame duck. I think that’s lame.”