NY grand jury indicts former President Trump
(CNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) called on Vice President Mike Pence and members of the Cabinet to use the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office—and said that if they did not do so “Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment.”
Under the normal constitutional order, President Donald Trump would leave office on January 20, the day that President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated.
“Good afternoon. I don’t know if the word ‘good’ is a way to describe it, but, because yesterday the president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America,” Pelosi said at her briefing.
“The gleeful desecration of the U.S. Capitol, which is the temple of our American democracy, and the violence targeting Congress are horrors that will forever stain our nation’s history, instigated by the president of the United States,” she said.
“That’s why it’s such a stain. In calling for this seditious act, the president has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people,” she said.
“I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment,” she said.
“If the vice president and cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment,” she said. “That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus—and the American people, by the way.”
In his speech to a crowd on the Ellipse on Wednesday, President Trump did not call for violence but did call for the crowd to march down to the Capitol.
“Republicans are constantly fighting like a boxer with his hands tied behind his back. It's like a boxer, and we want to be so nice,” Trump said.
“We want to be so respectful of everybody, including bad people,” he said. “We're going to have to fight much harder and Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us. If he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country because you're sworn to uphold our constitution.
“Now it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy,” Trump told the crowd.
“After this, we're going to walk down and I'll be there with you. We're going to walk down. We're going to walk down any one you want, but I think right here,” said Trump. “We're going walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women.
“We're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong,” Trump said.
At the end of is speech, Trump repeated his call for the protestors to head down to the Capitol.
“So we're going to, we're going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, I love Pennsylvania Avenue, and we're going to the Capitol and we're going to try and give... The Democrats are hopeless,” Trump said. “They're never voting for anything, not even one vote. But we're going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don't need any of our help, we're going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.
“So let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said. “I want to thank you all. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you all for being here, this is incredible. Thank you very much.”
The 25th Amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to notify the Congress that “the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” in which case the vice president becomes “Acting President.”
The 25th Amendment says in part:
“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
“Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session.”
Here is a transcript of the part of Nancy Pelosi’s press briefing where she calls on Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and suggests the House may impeach Trump if he does not:
Nancy Pelosi: “Good afternoon. I don’t know if the word ‘good’ is a way to describe it, but, because yesterday the president of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America. The gleeful desecration of the U.S. Capitol, which is the temple of our American democracy, and the violence targeting Congress are horrors that will forever stain our nation’s history, instigated by the president of the United States. That’s why it’s such a stain. In calling for this seditious act, the president has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people. I join the Senate Democratic leader
in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment. If the vice president and cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus—and the American people, by the way.”