On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House will vote on Monday to formally ask Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment in order to remove President Trump from office. Monday will be just nine days away from President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Pelosi announced the vote in a letter to House Democrats.
"I want to call to your immediate attention the action to be taken tomorrow morning, when Majority Leader Hoyer will request Unanimous Consent to bring up the Raskin resolution," the speaker wrote. "This resolution calls on the Vice President to convene and mobilize the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to declare the President incapable of executing the duties of his office, after which the Vice President would immediately exercise powers as acting President."
Despite the dangerous precedent it sets, House Democrats are planning to introduce articles of impeachment against President Trump following the vote on the Raskin resolution.
"If we do not receive Unanimous Consent, this legislation is planned to be brought up on the Floor the following day," wrote Pelosi. "We are calling on the Vice President to respond within 24 hours."
"Next, we will proceed with bringing impeachment legislation to the Floor."
Pelosi said the reason for the urgency is the "imminent threat" the president presents.
"As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action," Pelosi added.
Before the riot, President Trump explicitly told gatherers to protest "peacefully" and repeatedly condemned violence committed later at the Capitol by some of his supporters. BLM-Antifa violence went on for months last year as House Democrats failed to forcibly condemn the violence and some even defended it.
The speed and force in which Republican lawmakers and the president condemned Wednesday's riot is a standard to which Democrats should aspire.
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