House Judiciary Committee Democrats on Wednesday sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence encouraging him to invoke the 25 Amendment as a way of removing President Donald Trump from office.
Dear Vice President Pence:
It is with great sadness that we write to you following the incidents that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol today. As you presided over the U.S> Senate, angry supporters of President Trump attempted an insurrection, illegal storming and breaching the U.S. Capitol building to stop the certification of President-elect Biden's victory.
The world watched aghast as insurrectionists, who had been egged on by the President, threatened the safety of elected officials and staff and destroyed public property as they stormed and occupied both the House and Senate chambers bringing our democracy to a halt. At one point, the insurrectionists even removed an American flag flying at the Capitol and replaced it with a Trump flag.
Meanwhile, President Trump remained silent even as insurrections broke windows, threatened U.S. Capitol Police, and scaled the walls of the Capitol. Earlier in the morning, President Trump held a rally at the White House and told protestors "I'll be with you" and encouraged them to march to the Capitol to protest the certification of the electoral college votes.
Last Saturday, President Trump sought to undermine our democracy by encouraging election officials in Georgia to find more voters to overturn the election results. Even before the election, President Trump refused to commit to the peaceful transition of power. We have seen the fruit of the President's remarks in the violence and chaos unleashed today.
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides the Vice President and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries with the authority to determine a president as unfit fit he "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." Even in his video announcement this afternoon, President Turmp revealed that he is not mentally sound and is unable to process and accept the results of the 2020 election. President Trump's willingness to incite violence and social unreset to overturn the election results by force clearly met the standard. So to are his recent tweets, which Twitter has since deleted, saying the election was "stolen'" and that today's riots "are the things and events that happen."
For the sake of our democracy, we emphatically urge you to invoke the 25th Amendment and begin the process of removing President Trump from power. President Trump has shown time and again that he is unwilling to protect our Democracy and carry out the duties of the office.
The letter was signed by Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Cori Bush (D-MO), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Lucy McBath (D-GA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Madeleine Dean (D-PA) and Mondaire Jones (D-NY)
JUST IN: Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have called on Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Am to remove Trump from office pic.twitter.com/o4h8Er2edv
— John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) January 7, 2021
The news comes after various Democrats called for Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has already drafted Articles of Impeachment.