US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) continued her fight against Trump, saying she has discussed with the US military to ensure that a mentally unbalanced president like Trump would not have access to the code to launch an atomic bomb, French media reported Friday. Pelosi also threatened that if Trump did not leave office quickly, Congress would have to take impeachment action.
On Friday of the same day, President Trump, who will leave office on January 20 as is customary, tweeted that he would not attend Biden’s inauguration on January 20, saying this was in response to questions from some people. In the history of the United States, there have been three outgoing presidents who did not attend the inauguration of a new president. Trump will be the first outgoing president not to attend the inauguration of his successor since President Andrew Johnson.
The U.S. Congress held a joint session on January 6 to confirm the electoral votes of the states in last year’s election with suspicions of fraud, but more than a hundred protesters stormed the Capitol, causing the session to be temporarily interrupted and handed over to the police for security clearance. The atmosphere changed drastically when the meeting reconvened a few hours later, with most of the speeches by lawmakers used to condemn the protesters’ actions in breaking into the Capitol and no longer focusing on the election fraud issue itself. The electoral votes were confirmed and Biden was declared the winner.
After that, the Democrats did not rest on their laurels, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Schumer proposed from the next day onwards: asking Vice President Mike Pence and members of the current administration’s cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove Trump from office. Schumer said that would be the “fastest and most effective way to get Trump out of the White House.” And he said, “This president can’t stay in office one more day.” Nancy Pelosi also kept calling for Trump’s removal. She asked several cabinet members: Why not intervene? “There are only 13 days left, but any day could be a horror show for America.”
The Voice of America analysis says: “Despite the widespread backlash against events on Capitol Hill, many of Trump’s staunchest supporters remain on his side.” For example, even former national security adviser John Bolton, who has become a Trump critic since leaving the White House, has questioned the wisdom of trying to impeach Trump in the last two weeks of his term. Hilariously, Bolton, who published a book criticizing Trump before the presidential race, went so far as to say, “We should remember the motto ‘do no harm,’ because if we’re not careful, you could make this problem worse.”
In addition, U.S. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said he does not support removing President Trump from office. He doesn’t think it’s appropriate at this point. He said he is seeking a smooth transition and will spend the next 14 days seeking to transfer presidential powers in the traditional way. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told him the transition is going well.
Section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides
Section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that when the Vice President and a majority of the members of the Executive Cabinet or of a congressional body submit a written statement to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives that the President is unable to carry out the powers and duties of the office of President, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office of President as Acting President.
Thereafter, if the President submits a written statement to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives alleging that the incapacity does not exist, the President may resume the powers and duties of the office of President unless the Vice President and a majority of the heads of the executive departments or a majority of the members of other bodies established by law by Congress submit a written statement to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives within four days alleging that the President is incapable of carrying out the powers and duties of the office of President.
In such a case, Congress shall decide the question and, if in recess, shall assemble for that purpose within forty-eight hours. If Congress decides by a 2/3 vote of both Houses that the President is unable to perform the powers and duties of the office of President within 21 days after the receipt of the latter written statement, or if it falls within a recess, within 21 days after Congress assembles as required, the Vice President shall continue to perform the powers and duties of the office of President as Acting President; otherwise the President shall still resume the powers and duties of the office of President.
Legal Expert Opinion: The 25th Amendment is not a substitute for impeachment
According to Andrew McCarthy, a former prosecutor and senior researcher for the National Review, the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not a substitute for impeachment, which is a necessary procedure to deal with a particular dire situation when a sitting president is unable to perform his or her duties as president due to a medical emergency. For example, in response to a situation like former President Woodrow Wilson’s stroke, or the assassination of a president, which, as our history shows, can sometimes be a situation where (a president) needs life-threatening emergency surgery, or unfortunately is found to have certain diseases, and the president has a term in office before he dies.”
McCarthy explained that “the amendment does not apply to situations where a person is charged as unfit to serve as president because of (the president’s) character, or because of the commission of political crimes that may rise to the level of felonies and misdemeanors.”
If it is true, as the above experts say, that the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is not a substitute for impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would have to initiate the process of impeaching the president. Impeaching the president in only 12 days would also set a historical precedent.
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