Vice president Mike Pence is under growing pressure from Democrats to act to remove President Donald Trump from office for last week’s incitement of violence.
With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the vanguard, lawmakers may move a resolution asking the vice president to invoke the 25th Amendment to declare the president unfit for office.
Pence seems not interested though he hinted at “keeping the option in case Trump takes some rash steps.” In case of his refusal, Democrats will vote to impeach Trump.
Pelosi has written to fellow Democrats that the House would present a resolution requesting him to act. If Trump is removed, Pence will become acting president for the remaining few days of his presidency.
If resolution is tabled, the House could vote on Tuesday. After that, the vice president and the cabinet would be given 24 hours to act before the House’s potential move toward impeachment.
Pelosi wrote in her letter on Sunday that there was an urgency to move as the president “is an imminent threat.”
“The horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action,” she continued.
Although their relations are not cordial now, there is no indication that Pence would invoke the amendment.
Meanwhile, another Republican has asked Trump to resign.
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania has said the president should “resign and go away as soon as possible.” He is the second Republican after Lisa Murkowski of Alaska who called for Trump’s resignation.
On January 6, Trump asked his supporters through social media to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. Angry supporters attacked Capitol that led to violence in which five people were killed. Later, social media sites Twitter and Facebook suspended Trump’s accounts permanently for inciting violence.
President Trump will leave the White Office on January 20 when President-elect Joe Biden will take oath of office.
