U.S. House of Representatives to move quickly to impeach Trump

Washington, January 12 (RHC)-- As the United States reels from a violent attack on the Capitol that left five dead, Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing Republicans to take a side -- for or against President Donald Trump.

Alarmed by Trump’s incitement of mob violence on January 6, House Speaker Pelosi said on Monday that the president poses an “imminent threat” to the nation and “must be removed from office immediately.”

“The president incited a deadly insurrection against America that targeted the very heart of our democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement.

The House on Tuesday will take up a measure calling on Vice President Mike Pence and members of Trump’s Cabinet to invoke a process under the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the removal of a president deemed unfit to fulfil their duties.

Two cabinet secretaries, Elaine Chao and Betsy DeVos, have resigned in the wake of the Capitol attack. But Pence and remaining Cabinet secretaries, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have given no indication they will take the extraordinary step to remove Trump from office.

Democrats had attempted to bring the bill demanding Pence remove Trump to the House floor by unanimous consent on Monday but they were blocked by Republicans.

“The House Republicans rejected this legislation to protect America, enabling the president’s unhinged, unstable and deranged acts of sedition to continue,” Pelosi said.

Democrats now plan to force a vote on the measure on Tuesday night, a move designed to pressure Republicans and set a pretext for an impeachment vote the next day.  House Democrats introduced a single charge of insurrection in one article of impeachment against Trump on Monday.

By gathering a crowd of angry political supporters in Washington and urging them to march on the Capitol to interfere with Congress’s certification of Biden’s election victory, Trump “wilfully incited violence,” the article said.

Trump gravely “threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperilled a coordinate branch of government”, the article continued.  A Quinnipiac University poll released on Monday found 52 percent of Americans think Trump should be removed from office and 56 percent blamed him for the storming of the Capitol.

Meanwhile, the FBI issued a warning to law enforcement agencies that social media posts indicate Trump supporters are planning more violent protests in Washington and state capitals around the country leading up to Biden’s inauguration on January 20.

The National Guard is deploying at least 10,000 troops to Washington and expects requests for another 5,000 from state governors.

For now, most Republican politicians appear to continue to support Trump, although some have indicated a desire to see him leave office before his term ends.