Democrats' 25th Amendment Push to Remove Trump Is Blocked by Republicans
House Dems pushed quick bill calling on VP Pence to back moves to remove president
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A quick bill being pushed by House Democrats, calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office, has been blocked by Republicans.
Democrats asked for consideration of a bill calling on Pence to mobilize the 25th Amendment amid fallout from last week’s Capitol riot.
Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) objected Monday, however.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had vowed she would bring the bill to the floor if the unanimous consent request was blocked.
Top Democrats in both chambers of Congress are calling for Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment.
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats urged Pence to "immediately" invoke the 25th Amendment.
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Sen. Schumer called it the "quickest and most effective way" to remove Trump from office.
However, Schumer warned that if Pence and the Cabinet did not take that path, Congress could "reconvene to impeach the president."
The 25th Amendment includes a section allowing the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members to declare a president "unable" to perform the job.
A senior Trump administration official told Fox News that Pence has not been involved in any 25th Amendment conversations.
The calls for Trump’s removal come after the president spoke at a rally Wednesday.
During his remarks, he renewed pressure on Pence, claiming that he should decertify the results of the presidential election and send it "back to the states."
Trump’s remarks came ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the presidential election.
As members of the House and Senate raised objections to certain electoral votes, both chambers called for a recess and left their chambers as pro-Trump protesters breached the Capitol building.
Washington, D.C., police said the security breach at the Capitol resulted in four deaths – including a woman who had been shot inside the building – and at least 70 arrests.
Congress later returned and certified the Electoral College vote early Thursday, formally handing Joe Biden the presidency.
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White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted a statement from the president on Twitter early Thursday morning, saying: "Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless, there will be an orderly transition on January 20th."
"I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted," Trump said.
"While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!"
Meanwhile, Democratic Reps. Ted Lieu, David Cicilline, and Jamie Raskin drafted an article of impeachment, "Incitement to Insurrection," which they plan to introduce this week.
The House is expected to prepare the article for floor debate this week.
The House debate and a vote on the article are expected to come on Wednesday.
The House voted to impeach Trump in December 2019, but the Senate acquitted him on both articles of impeachment – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – in February 2020.
