It may seem absurd to impeach a president who is scheduled to leave office in two weeks. I said a couple of days ago that I thought it was unrealistic. But that was before yesterday. When that president is leading a violent insurrection determined to overturn the election he lost, we are dealing with a problem that requires immediate action. And so here we are:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would consider impeachment if Trump is not removed from office immediately.
“If the Vice President and Cabinet do not act,” Pelosi said, “The Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment.”
Pelosi, a California Democrat, holds the power to bring up an impeachment vote. Across the Capitol, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat poised to control the gavel, said he also backs impeachment if Trump is not removed.
The two leaders said the 25th Amendment must be invoked by Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s Cabinet.
Trump has only 13 days left in office.
Pelosi said impeachment, if Trump does not leave immediately ,”is the overwhelming view” of the Democratic caucus.
The call comes a day after pro-Trump rioters took over the Capitol with violence, forcing an evacuation and lockdown and resulting in the death of one female rioter.
Lawmakers blame Trump, who met with protesters earlier in the day to complain the election was stolen by Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump was impeached last year, but the Senate did not convict him.
Pelosi called on the State, Defense, and Treasury secretaries, as well as the attorney
general, to move to remove the president.
She called Trump “a dangerous person who should not continue in office.”
I think the 25th Amendment is the real goal here. The Democrats have delivered Mike Pence an ultimatum. And pence has good reason to act — Trump basically threw him to the wolves yesterday. The mob that attacked the Capitol were looking for him specifically. Trump called him out in his speech just moments before. And if Pence ever had a future with the Trump base, it’s gone now. They will never forgive him anyway. Maybe he can save his reputation.
And this may be having an effect on the GOP as well:
National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement in response to large groups of armed Trump adherents who have violently stormed the U.S. Capitol building as members of Congress meet to count the electoral votes:
“Armed violent protestors who support the baseless claim by outgoing president Trump that he somehow won an election that he overwhelmingly lost have stormed the U.S. Capitol today, attacking police officers and first responders, because Trump refused to accept defeat in a free and fair election. Throughout this whole disgusting episode, Trump has been cheered on by members of his own party, adding fuel to the distrust that has enflamed violent anger. This is not law and order. This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and should be treated as such. The outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy. Anyone indulging conspiracy theories to raise campaign dollars is complicit.
Vice President Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.
People have been writing about the possibility of Trump refusing to accept the result of the election ever since he starting talking about refusing to accept the result of the election back in 2016. They even “war gamed” it. But I don’t think anyone really took it that seriously. Trump is ultimately a coward. But what happened yesterday has sobered people up. This now requires that Democrats step up and make the GOP take ownership of what’s happened and start telling their people the truth.
I don’t know if it will happen. But it should. Donald Trump has always been a dangerous president. But this next two weeks may be the most dangerous period yet. He should be removed one way or the other.