House Democrats are clamoring to impeach President Trump a second time after Wednesday’s siege of the Capitol by his angry supporters, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’s pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to remove him under the 25th Amendment.
In a call with the Democratic caucus Friday, the California Democrat told lawmakers she would be discussing the possible impeachment of Trump when she speaks later in the day with President-elect Joe Biden.
Pelosi said she’s waiting to hear back from Pence but is prepared to follow through with impeachment if Pence does not agree to initiate Trump’s immediate removal.
Democrats are eager to start the impeachment process immediately. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, told MSNBC Friday that Democrats should not wait for Pence to make a move to remove the president
“These things can go simultaneously,” Clyburn said.
And CNN reported that House Democrats plan to introduce impeachment articles as soon as Monday.
Democrats have drafted articles of impeachment, the latest authored by senior Judiciary Committee member and Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline, but Pelosi has not announced a specific timing for a vote on them.
“If the president does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action,” Pelosi told Democratic lawmakers Friday. Pence has so far signaled he is not going to attempt to remove Trump, and no other Cabinet official has indicated a willingness to take such an unprecedented step.
The House is not scheduled to be in session next week, however, and Trump’s term expires on Jan. 20 at noon.
Rep. Katherine Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat who serves as the assistant speaker, told CNN the House could return to impeach Trump next week but later said no timeline has been set.
“To clarify, House Democrats are working to determine the timeline and the quickest path to hold Trump accountable,” Clark said Friday. “We face obstruction and attempts to delay us by the GOP defenders, but we‘re resolute. We will act to protect the American people.”
Clark called Trump a “traitor … who must be removed from office.”
Pelosi, during the call with Democrats, repeated her argument that Trump is “unhinged” and “dangerous,” and she assured fellow lawmakers that she has consulted with top military officials that the nuclear codes are protected from Trump.
Earlier, she put out a caucus-wide memo describing her effort to prevent Trump from starting a nuclear war before he leaves office.
“This morning, I spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike,” Pelosi said. “The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy.”
Some Republicans in the House and Senate would likely vote to impeach and remove Trump, but even the more centrist lawmakers in the party say they prefer letting the president finish the term without another divisive impeachment effort.
Democrats impeached Trump on Dec. 18, 2019. A Senate trial followed, and he was acquitted.
Democrats and Republicans said in recent days it is unlikely the Senate would produce the two-thirds votes that would be needed to convict Trump and remove him from office after a second impeachment because the end of his term is just days away.
“Any attempt to impeach President Trump would not only be unsuccessful in the Senate but would be a dangerous precedent for the future of the presidency,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday.
Graham called on Biden to reject impeachment.
“It will take both parties to heal the nation,” Graham said.
