House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave Vice President Mike Pence an ultimatum Sunday evening, saying that if he refused to meet Democrats’ demands to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office in the coming days, the House would move forward with impeachment. “In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Democrats laying out next steps on Sunday night, the first being trying to pass a measure on Monday urging Pence and the Cabinet “to declare the President incapable of executing the duties of his office, after which the Vice President would immediately exercise powers as acting President.” The Democrats’ resolution unveiled Monday morning charges Trump with “incitement of insurrection.”
The calls for removal follow last week’s stunning attack on the U.S. Capitol, when violent insurrectionists incited by Trump stormed the building as Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s victory, an attempted takeover that forced lawmakers, staff, and journalists to lockdown, some fearing for their lives, and left at least five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. Pence has reportedly not ruled out the 25th Amendment, keeping his options open in case Trump’s actions escalate. Recounting the siege to CBS News correspondent Lesley Stahl during a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday night, Pelosi condemned Trump as “a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president of the United States” who “has done something so serious that there should be prosecution against him.”
If House Republicans block the resolution, Democrats plan to bring the legislation to the floor on Tuesday for a vote, Politico reports. “We are calling on the Vice President to respond within 24 hours,” Pelosi wrote, saying that if Pence doesn’t act, Democrats will move forward with impeachment. Also on Sunday, House Majority Whip James Clyburn suggested it could be months before House Democrats send the articles of impeachment to the Senate. “Let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running, and maybe we’ll send the articles sometime after that,” he said during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union.
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