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WASHINGTON, D.C., January 7, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Democrat Congressional leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) called for invoking the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution to forcibly remove President Donald Trump from office Thursday, less than two weeks before Trump will be stepping down on his own accord.
“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer,” Schumer declared, Axios reports. “The quickest and most effective way — it can be done today — to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment. If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.”
“If the vice president and Cabinet do not act, Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment,” Pelosi agreed. “That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus and the American people, by the way,” in the wake of Wednesday’s “acts of sedition and acts of cowardice.”
These calls (joined by Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger) come a day after dozens of protesters broke into the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday, following the “March to Save America” rally where the president said supporters would march “over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” where “we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen-and-women” who were meeting to formally object to the certification of electoral votes from a handful of states.
As covered live by LifeSiteNews, viral videos showed groups of protesters engaging in physical altercations with police, pushing against security barricades, breaking through a window, trespassing in congressional offices, and climbing on walls, causing the vote certification to be suspended and lawmakers to be evacuated from the chambers. While LifeSite’s on-the-ground reporting indicates many were allowed to enter and simply walked through the building (which is normally open to the public) after the initial breach, one woman was fatally shot by capitol police.
Trump subsequently told the breachers to “go home in peace” via tweets and video message (which Twitter flagged as potentially dangerous), yet a coalition of Democrats and establishment Republicans quickly decided that Trump had “incited” the violence, some by blaming his call to march to the building (which was a pre-planned part of the event, advertised prior to Trump’s remarks), others by blaming Trump’s refusal to concede in the first place.
National Review’s Andrew McCarthy, a former Trump supporter who rescinded his endorsement of the president this week and contends (without explaining how) that Trump incited the violence, nevertheless admits that removing Trump via the 25th Amendment would be unconstitutional, as it is meant “to deal with a specific kind of dire situation, namely, when the president is by some medical emergency rendered unable to perform the duties of the presidency.”
Aside from the law, the political reality remains that such an action (which would further inflame political divisions rather than calm them) would only accelerate Trump’s departure from the presidency by a matter of days. After Congress certified former Vice President Joe Biden’s formal victory, Trump confirmed he would abide by the outcome in an “orderly transition on January 20.”