House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined the growing calls for Vice President Mike Pence to immediately move to remove President Trump from office, saying he has become “a very dangerous person.”
She said if Mr. Pence does not invoke the 25th Amendment the House will move forward with articles of impeachment against the president.
“In calling for this seditious act, the President has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people,” the California Democrat said. “The president must be held accountable again.”
She specifically called out Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to make a choice on their loyalty.
“This is urgent. This is an emergency,” she said. “What is it — is it about success in business later?…Do you believe in this?”
Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, had voiced his support for the 25th Amendment earlier on Thursday.
At a press conference, he told reporters that he and Mrs. Pelosi tried to call the vice president in the morning but couldn’t get through.
“They kept us on hold for 25 minutes and then said the vice president wouldn’t come on the phone,” he said.
The 25th Amendment allows for the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet to remove a president in the case of a disability and would take a two-thirds vote in both chambers to overrule any objection from the president.
Legal experts debate whether or not it could be used to remove an unpopular president, who is otherwise healthy.
Demands to implement the 25th Amendment surged amongst Democrats after thousands of Trump supporters mobbed the Capitol on Wednesday.
Only one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, has supported removing the president from office through this option, though several other GOP members have laid the blame for the angry mob at Mr. Trump’s feet.
Some Democrats, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Ted Lieu of California, have drafted up their own articles of impeachment and are circulating them for signatures.
Mrs. Pelosi did not say what the timeline would be for pursuing impeachment, or how long she’d be willing to wait for the Trump administration to make a decision regarding the 25th Amendment.
“We’ll review what our options are in terms of the 25th Amendment,” she said. “If he wants to be unique and be doubly impeached, that’s kind of up to him and his cabinet as to whether he should stay in office.”
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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