Dems try again to remove Trump

Pa. members of Congress call for ouster of President with 2 weeks left in his term

Pennsylvania continues to be at the center of the presidential election saga and, now, after the chaos at the Capitol, its somber aftermath.

At least four Pennsylvania legislators, including three Democratic House members from Southeastern Pennsylvania, have publicly called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office using the procedure laid out in the 25th Amendment, due, most recently, to what they say is his encouragement of those who invaded the Capitol.

Later Thursday, that call was echoed by the top two Congressional Democrats — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Pelosi also suggested impeaching Trump, who has less than two weeks left in office.

In addition to Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pa. calling for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, two local House members, Madeleine Dean, D-4th Dist., and Mary Gary Scanlon, D-5th Dist., added their signatures Wednesday night to a letter from the House Judiciary Committee to Vice President Mike Pence, calling on him to invoke the 25th Amendment.

Dean represents the majority of Montgomery County and Scanlon the majority of Delaware County.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th Dist., who

“It has been so abundantly clear for a long time that he is unstable and unfit to serve as president of the United States.” — U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-4th Dist.

“It is selfevident that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” — U.S. Sen. Bob Casey

represents Chester County and a large portion of Berks County, released a statement Thursday also urging that the 25th Amendment be invoked “with urgency and expediency.”

Ratified in 1967, Section 4 of the 25th Amendment empowers the vice president, along with a majority of the cabinet, to declare the president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” and for the vice president to assume those duties, according to information posted on the website of Philadelphia’s Constitution Center.

Asked what she feels to be evidence of President Trump’s inability, Dean in a phone interview responded curtly Thursday, “Just look at what happened yesterday. He incited that crowd, he lit the fuse on his lies and di-information.”

Further, said Dean, “I would submit his last four years in office, the catalog of his failures, often accompanied by his Tweets, his handling of the pandemic, his lack of action yesterday. It has been so abundantly clear for a long time that he is unstable and unfit to serve as president of the United States,” she said. “The country is at great risk with this man in charge.”

“President Trump is a threat to our domestic and national security. It is selfevident that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” Casey said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

“I call on Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and begin the process of removing the powers of the presidency from Donald Trump. This is the quickest way to protect our domestic and national security,” Casey said.

“I believe the President has abdicated his responsibility to safeguard this nation,” Houlahan said in her statement. “Today, I am urging the Vice President and members of the Cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment. This is an appropriate way to remove the president from office.”

“We must send an urgent missive both to the American people and to the international community: this man is not fit to serve as the leader of country and the free world,” said Houlahan.

She also said that should the administration fail to act, that Congress should be prepared to “again proceed with further Articles of Impeachment.”

Dean agreed and said perhaps both options should be pursued simultaneously, despite there being less than two weeks before Presidentelect Joe Biden is sworn in to replace Trump.

“Look what happened (Wednesday). That was just one day,” she said. “I don’t think we should be calculating if something can be done, but be asking ourselves what we should be doing in this moment, and I think this moment calls for both.”

“I voted to impeach him twice, once in the Judiciary Committee and the full House sent two articles of impeachment to the Senate, which was derelict in its duty in convicting him,” Dean said. “We are now reaping the fruits of their failure to fulfill their responsibility to the country.”

Being convicted by the Senate would also mean Trump could not run for office again, said Dean.

The letter signed by Scanlon and Dean was also signed by other Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee, on which they both serve.

“Even in his video announcement this afternoon, President Trump revealed that he is not mentally sound and is still unable to process and accept the results of the 2020 election,” the letter read.

“President Trump’s willingness to incite violence and promote social unrest to overturn the election results by force clearly meet this standard,” the House members wrote. “For the sake of our democracy, we emphatically urge you to invoke the 25th Amendment and begin the process of removing President Trump from power.”

The letter was written Wednesday night as both Houses of Congress were meeting to conclude the work they had begun that afternoon before the security of the Capitol was breached.

“I think it’s important that we finished what we had started, that we certified the Electoral College votes sends an important message to the world that we will not be cowed by this grotesque attempted coup,” said Dean. “I was reminded of the late John Lewis who told us ‘democracy is not a state, it’s an act,’ and we have to continue to act to uphold it.”

That work certifying the votes of the Electoral College, was nearly marred by more violence on the House floor in the early morning hours, this time among the House members themselves when members from both sides of the aisle rose and came together in what looked like a potential brawl.

At the center was another Pennsylvanian, Rep. Connor Lamb, D-17th Dist., who represents a portion of Allegheny County.

Lamb was speaking in opposition to the objections to Pennsylvania’s electoral college votes being called into question by eight of Pennsylvania’s nine Republican House members.

They are U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler,R-14th Dist.; Dan Mesuer, R-9th Dist.; Glenn Thompson R-15th Dist.; Mike Kelly R-16th Dist.; Scott Perry, R-10th Dist.; Lloyd Smucker R-11th Dist.; John Joyce R-13th Dist., and Fred Keller R-12th Dist.

In his speech, Lamb said the attack earlier that day was inspired by “lies” about the election told by Republicans. “These objections don’t deserve an ounce of respect. Not one ounce,” Lamb said.

But it was not until Lamb said those who invaded the Capitol did so easily “because of how they looked,” that Republicans objected, asking for his comments to be stricken from the record. When Pelosi refused, Lamb went on to say, over increased shouts, “It’s sad, but it’s true.”

PBS Reporter Lisa Desjardins, who witnessed the ensuing scuffle, said the House sergeant at arms had to get between the two groups from both sides of the aisle, who had left their seats and were coming to a face-off in a threatening manner.

Dean — who did not get home until 3:30 a.m. Thursday and who said 12 hours later she is still “running on adrenaline” — was in the cloakroom when the near-fight broke out.

“I do not think I would have been much help,” she said with a chuckle.

All jokes aside, Dean said she still has not fully processed the events of the last 48 hours.

“I feel sad, but so determined that we make use of this moment and this transfer of power and make it a turn for the good of the country,” she said.