WASHINGTON: Democrats will give President Donald Trump one last chance on Tuesday to leave office just over a week before his term expires or face an unprecedented second impeachment over his supporters’ deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives plans to vote as soon as Wednesday on an article of impeachment charging Trump with inciting an insurrection unless he resigns or Vice President Mike Pence moves to oust him under a provision in the U.S. Constitution.
Making his first public appearance since the rampage that killed five, Trump lambasted Democrats for pushing ahead with the impeachment drive.
“This impeachment is causing tremendous anger,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border wall near Alamo, Texas. He also defended the remarks he made last week to a rally of his supporters immediately before some of them stormed the Capitol, saying, “I want no violence.”
The Republican president, however, did not answer a reporter’s question about whether he would resign.
The House will vote later on Tuesday on a resolution calling on Pence, a Republican, to invoke the 25th Amendment, a never-before used law that allows a majority of the Cabinet to strip the president of power if he or she is unable to discharge the office’s duties.
Pence advisers say he is opposed to the idea.
The violence at the Capitol last week caused a serious rift between Trump and Pence, and the two men did not speak for days, although they did meet at the White House on Monday. A senior administration official said they discussed the violence.
“The two had a good conversation, discussing the week ahead and reflecting on the last four years of the administration’s work and accomplishments,” the official added.
If Trump has not stepped down and Pence has not taken action by Wednesday, Democratic leaders plan to bring impeachment to the House floor, one week after a riot that forced lawmakers into hiding for hours and left behind five dead, including a police officer.
Two Democratic lawmakers, U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Bonnie Watson Coleman, said they tested positive for COVID-19 days after being locked down for hours with other colleagues, including Republicans who did not wear a face mask, to avoid the mob. [L1N2JN0TJ]
REPUBLICAN CENSURE
Meanwhile, U.S. Representative Tom Reed, a moderate Republican, wrote in a New York Times op-ed that he and House colleagues would introduce a censure resolution against Trump on Tuesday as an alternative to a “rushed, divisive” impeachment.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top congressional Democrat, told Democratic members on a conference call on Monday that a censure “would be an abdication of our responsibility,” according to a source familiar with the call.
Democratic lawmakers introduced one article of impeachment on Monday, accusing Trump of inciting a violent insurrection with a fiery speech exhorting thousands of followers to march on Congress as it worked to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Nov. 3 election victory.
“The president’s threat to America is urgent, and so too will be our action,” Pelosi said.
With only eight days left in Trump’s term, chances the Democratic drive will result in his removal appear remote.
Impeachment would trigger a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate, which is in recess and not scheduled to return to Washington until Jan. 19, the day before Biden is to be sworn in.
A Senate conviction requires a two-thirds majority of those present, which means at least 17 Republicans would have to break with a president who has maintained an iron grip over his party for four years.
Democrats will take control of the Senate once the two winners of last week’s runoff elections in Georgia are seated later this month, creating a 50-50 split and giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote once she is sworn in.
An impeachment trial could proceed even after Trump leaves office. Some Democrats have expressed concern that a trial could hamper Biden’s agenda, slowing down confirmation of his appointees and distracting from legislative priorities such as a new coronavirus relief package.
If an impeachment trial is held, Biden said on Monday he hoped the Senate would be able to conduct normal business at the same time, perhaps by splitting its hours in half.
TRUMP SILENCED
Until his departure for Texas, Trump had not been seen in public since the day of the Capitol siege.
Trump’s favorite means of communication was cut off last week when Twitter suspended his account permanently, saying it was concerned he could use it to incite further mayhem.
The president’s actions have driven a wedge among Republicans, with a handful of lawmakers either calling for him to step down immediately or saying they will consider supporting impeachment.
Impeachment appears likely to pass: the lawmakers who drafted the formal charge say at least 214 of the 222 Democrats in the Democratic-led House already support it.
The House impeached Trump in December 2019 for pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden, but the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him in February 2020.
Only two other U.S. presidents have been impeached.
After last week’s chaos, authorities are hardening security ahead of Biden’s inauguration, which has already been dramatically scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Comments
0 comment