Washington: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the House will proceed with bringing legislation to impeach President Donald Trump to the floor. Pelosi made the announcement in letter late Sunday to colleagues. She also pushed the vice president and Cabinet to invoke constitutional authority to force him out, warning that Trump is a threat to democracy after the deadly assault on the Capitol, said an AP report.
In a letter to colleagues, Pelosi reportedly made the announcement that the House will first vote to push Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the powers of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
“In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” Pelocy said, adding “The horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”
Pelosi’s leadership team on Monday will seek a vote on a resolution calling on Pence and Cabinet officials to invoke the 25th Amendment, the AP report said.
With the House not in session, there is likely to be an objection to its consideration. Pelosi would then put the resolution before the full House on Tuesday. If it were to pass, Pence and the Cabinet would have 24 hours to act before the House would move toward impeachment.
With impeachment planning intensifying, the pressure was mounting for outgoing President Trump to leave office even before his term ended amid alarming concerns of more unrest ahead of the inauguration.
Two Republican senators have now said they want Trump to resign immediately in the wake of deadly riots at the Capitol. The president whipped up the mob that stormed the Capitol, sent lawmakers into hiding, and left five dead.
Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Sunday joined Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in calling for Trump to “resign and go away as soon as possible.” “I think the president has disqualified himself from ever, certainly, serving in office again,” Toomey said. “I don’t think he is electable in any way.”
As a growing number of lawmakers want to prevent Trump from ever again holding elected office, House Democrats were expected to introduce articles of impeachment on Monday. The strategy would be to condemn the president’s actions swiftly but delay an impeachment trial in the Senate for 100 days. That would allow President-elect Joe Biden to focus on other priorities as soon as he is inaugurated on January 20.
Earlier on Wednesday, chaotic and violent scenes erupted at the Capitol as supporters of Trump stormed the building to protest the Electoral College vote, forcing a lockdown and confrontations with the police. The violence came hours after Trump encouraged his supporters to fight against the election results as Congress was certifying Biden`s victory in the November vote.
Shortly after the incident, House Democrats were reportedly planning to introduce several articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump for his role in encouraging the violence.
Meanwhile, officials have opened at least 25 domestic terrorism investigations into Wednesday`s assault on the US Capitol. Five people died in the rampage through the seat of government by Trump`s backers after a fiery speech denouncing the Nov 3 election results by the Republican president.
(With Agency Inputs)
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