On Monday, House Democrats formally submitted their resolution to impeach President Donald Trump, accusing him of “incitement of insurrection” for his involvement in the protests at the US Capitol last week.
The impeachment resolution that the House is poised to vote on later this week is the first move by the Democrats to make Trump the first president to be impeached twice in history.
On Monday, Democrats also attempted to move a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power, but the request was blocked by House Republicans.
The single article on impeachment, introduced when the House gave a short pro-forma session on Monday, refers to Trump’s repeated false statements that he won the election and his address to the crowd on January 6 before the Capitol was violated by pro-Trump rioters.
“In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government,” the resolution says.
“He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”
The resolution introduced by Democrats had cited that Constitution’s 14th Amendment, pointing out that it “prohibits any person who has ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion against’ the United States” from holding office.
Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker told the House Democrats that the House will go on in bringing the impeachment resolution to the floor this week, unless Pence will act to invoke the 25th Amendment with the cabinet to completely put Trump out of power.
Rhode Island Democrat Cicilline told CNN Monday that he also supports submitting articles of impeachment to the Senate right away. He said “we have the numbers” to impeach Trump, and he expected that some Republicans will also vote for it, unlike the votes of the House in December 2019 to impeach Trump.
“I expect that we’ll have Republican support,” Cicilline said. “I think it’s urgent that the president be removed immediately.”
Pelosi said she called on Pence to respond within 24 hours of Raskin’s 25th Amendment resolution being passed by the House. Democrats will carry their impeachment resolution to the floor if it does not happen.
Source: CNN