WASHINGTON: Democrats will give President Donald Trump one last chance on Tuesday to leave office days before his term expires or face an unprecedented second impeachment over his supporters’ deadly January 6 assault on the US Capitol.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives plans to vote as soon as Wednesday on formal charges of misconduct, known as articles of impeachment, unless Trump resigns or Vice President Mike Pence moves to oust him under a provision in the US Constitution.
The House will vote later on Tuesday on a resolution calling on Pence, a Republican, to invoke the 25th Amendment, a never-before used law that allows a majority of the Cabinet to strip the president of power if he or she is unable to discharge the office’s duties.
Pence advisers say he is opposed to the idea.
The violence at the Capitol last week caused a serious rift between Trump and Pence, and the two men did not speak for days, although they did meet at the White House on Monday. A senior administration official said they discussed the riot.
“The two had a good conversation, discussing the week ahead and reflecting on the last four years of the administration’s work and accomplishments’’, the official added.
If Trump has not stepped down and Pence has not taken action by Wednesday, Democratic leaders plan to bring his impeachment to the House floor, one week after the riot that forced lawmakers into hiding for hours and left behind five dead, including a police officer.
Two Democratic lawmakers, US Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Bonnie Watson Coleman, said they tested positive for COVID-19 days after being locked down for hours with other colleagues, including Republicans who did not wear a face mask, to avoid the mob.
Meanwhile, US Representative Tom Reed, a moderate Republican, wrote in a New York Times op-ed that he and House colleagues would introduce a censure resolution against Trump on Tuesday as an alternative to a “rushed, divisive” impeachment.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top congressional Democrat, told Democratic members on a conference call on Monday that a censure “would be an abdication of our responsibility’’, according to a source familiar with the call.
Democratic lawmakers introduced one article of impeachment on Monday, accusing Trump of inciting a violent insurrection with a fiery speech exhorting thousands of followers to march to the famous domed building where Congress was working to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s November 3 election victory.
“The president’s threat to America is urgent, and so too will be our action’’, Pelosi said. With only eight days left in Trump’s term, chances the Democratic drive will result in his removal appear remote. — Reuters
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