Schumer and GOP Congressman Call for Trump To Be Removed from Office 'Immediately'
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger are among those calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office.
Schumer said that if Pence does not remove Trump, Congress should “impeach the president.”
“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by President Trump. This president must not hold office one day longer,” the New York Democrat said in a statement Thursday.
“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 must reconvene to impeach President Trump.”
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 must reconvene to impeach President Trump.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 7, 2021
Kinzinger became the first GOP lawmaker to join a growing number of congressional Democrats urging Pence to take action, according to The Hill.
“It’s with a heavy heart I am calling for the sake of our Democracy that the 25th Amendment be invoked,” the Illinois Republican tweeted along with a video statement.
It’s with a heavy heart I am calling for the sake of our Democracy that the 25th Amendment be invoked. My statement: pic.twitter.com/yVyQrYcjuD
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 7, 2021
Kinzinger blamed Wednesday’s incursion and riots at the Capitol on the president.
“Here’s the truth. The president caused this. The president is unfit and the president is unwell. And the president now must relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily,” he said.
The centrist Republican and frequent Trump critic pointed out that the 25th Amendment has been invoked in the past when a president was under anesthesia, temporarily passing power to the vice president “because even for that moment to have the captain of the ship absent could cause a major catastrophe.”
“All indications are that the president has become unmoored, not just from his duty, nor even his oath, but from reality itself,” Kinzinger said.
“It’s for this reason that I call for the vice president and members of the Cabinet to ensure the next few weeks are safe for the American people and that we have a sane captain of the ship.”
Section Four of the 25th Amendment says that if the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members decide the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” the vice president can take over as the acting president.
A Trump administration official told Fox News that Pence has not been involved in any conversations about the 25th Amendment.
A different anonymous source who Fox News said was in contact with several Cabinet members said there haven’t been any conversations of the kind.
The calls for Trump’s removal were renewed after the president told his supporters at a Wednesday rally that he would “never concede.”
Later in the day, rioters breached the Capitol building as members of the House and Senate met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential Election.
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