US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced on Thursday that she would be joining fellow colleagues in calling for Trump’s immediate removal from the Oval Office through the 25th Amendment.
The California lawmaker condemned Trump for inciting an “armed insurrection against America,” stressing that the president committed a “seditious act.”
“In calling for this seditious act, the president has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people,” Pelosi told reporters. “I join the Senate Democratic Leader [Chuck Schumer (D-NY)] 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, Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment - that is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus and the American people,” she continued.
“Justice will be done to those who carried out these acts, which were acts of sedition and acts of cowardice. To those whose purpose was to deter our responsibility, you have failed.”
Pelosi's announcement comes after Schumer became the highest-ranking lawmaker to throw his support behind invoking the amendment to remove Trump. Similar to Pelosi’s remarks, Schumer also indicated that if US Vice President Mike Pence failed to take up the procedure, officials would start impeachment proceedings for a second time.
While many have moved to support the idea of invoking the amendment, not all have been as supportive as Pelosi or Schumer. In fact, Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has suggested that such a move is not “appropriate at this point,” considering the president has less than two weeks before leaving office.
“I'm looking for a peaceful transfer of power," he said, before also acknowledging Trump’s legacy was “tarnished” by the events that took place at the Capitol. Graham also indicated he had no regrets about supporting Trump during his presidency, despite being one of his biggest critics during the 2016 campaign.
Under the 25th Amendment, both the vice president and a majority of Trump’s Cabinet members would need to agree that the president is unfit for office. In the event that Trump moves to dispute the outcome, two-thirds of both the House and Senate chambers would need to vote in favor of choosing Pence as acting president.
