Pelosi has given Pence 24 hours to oust Trump by invoking 25th Amendment, else House WILL ‘impeach' him
If Nancy Pelosi has her way, she could force Mike Pence to decide whether to oust President Donald J. Trump before he is "impeached by Democrats" in the House today. The House Speaker said that she will demand that the Vice President invoke the 25th Amendment to strip the President of his authority, The Sun reported.
Pelosi described Trump as an "urgent threat to the nation" in a letter sent to colleagues last night. According to the report, if Pence doesn't give his support within 24 hours, there will be a full House vote on the resolution Tuesday.
“In protecting our Constitution and our democracy, we will act with urgency, because this president represents an imminent threat to both,” Pelosi wrote to fellow House Democrats Sunday night. “As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this president is intensified, and so is the immediate need for action.”
Pelosi is insisting on the urgency of the matter because Trump is due to leave office on January 20, which is more than a week from now. According to The Sun, the prospect of getting the president out of the White House and barring him from holding office for life was "an attractive one" for House Democrats.
Considering more than 200 lawmakers are expected to co-sponsor the impeachment resolution, the passage in the House seems likely, albeit the Republican-controlled Senate would most likely reject it.
“We will take the vote that we should take in the House, and [Mrs. Pelosi] will make the determination as to when is the best time to get that vote and get the managers appointed and move that legislation over to the Senate,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the majority whip, said. “Let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running, and maybe we will send the articles sometime after that.”
No president has ever been convicted by the Senate, which would have to vote two-thirds in favor of impeachment articles. "If Trump was convicted, he would be removed from office, but a two-thirds vote in the Senate, even if delayed for 100 days, would still bar the president from holding office again," according to The Sun's Hana Carter.
Pelosi, during an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, said she would prefer to remove Trump from office under the 25th Amendment. The President had hinted at plans to run again in 2024 before the attack on the Capitol last week.
"I like the 25th Amendment because it gets rid of him, he’s out of office," Pelosi said. "But there is strong support in the Congress for impeaching the president a second time."
Pelosi reportedly said in her letter on Sunday that some Democrats were keen on using the 14th Amendment's bar to holding office for anyone who "shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion" or "given the aid of comfort" to the enemy.
Democratic Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said Sunday that she will prepare a resolution censuring Trump, saying that is the only punishment Congress could pass while he was still in office.