US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed invoking the 25th amendment to the US Constitution to remove President Donald Trump from power due to the fallout from the insurrection, but abandoned this step, CNBC reported Thursday, citing sources.
According to the report, Pompeo and Mnuchin had informal conversations within their own departments about the 25th Amendment, the invocation of which would begin a process of Trump's removal from office.
Members of Trump's cabinet reportedly concluded that the removal process would take too long to implement, as Trump ultimately leaves office on January 20. Moreover, it was unclear whether three secretaries who are not approved by the Senate and serve as "acting" would be able to vote for the invocation of the amendment.
"The general plan now is to let the clock run out," the channel quotes one former senior administration official aware of the situation as saying. “There will be a reckoning for this president, but it doesn’t need to happen in the next 13 days."
The second cited source claims that while Pompeo might have gathered the information on the possibility, although he was not willing to lead the action himself.
"The first oath the secretary ever took was at West Point, and that oath was to the Constitution," CNBC quotes this source as saying.
No formal move has been taken towards invoking the amendment as of now, according to the report, citing Trump's other department heads, who denied that there ever was such a discussion.
Several US lawmakers have considered efforts to remove US President Donald Trump from office in the wake of the Wednesday insurrection.
Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, among several others, called for Trump's removal from office through the 25th Amendment, and if this effort failed, they claimed impeachment procedures should be initiated against President Trump. Invoking the 25th Amendment requires the intervention of the vice president and most of the cabinet members.
On Wednesday, supporters of the incumbent president stormed into the US Capitol shortly after the rally where he spoke, claiming the election was stolen from him and allegedly urging the crowd to march to the Capitol. At least four people died in the riot, including a female veteran who was shot dead inside the Capitol by a police officer. The Capitol building suffered serious damage as a result of the riot.
Trump repeatedly called on protesters to remain peaceful and respect law and order, urging them to go home.
The riots forced a delay of congressional approval of Joe Biden's victory, and it was certified on Thursday. Ultimately, Congress approved him in a late-night session, rejecting the objections to the results in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
