House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with some of her Democratic colleagues and one Republican, calls for the removal of President Donald Trump from office using the 25th Amendment. The move came Thursday after a large number of Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol.
During a news conference Thursday, the California Democrat said that she joined the Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in urging Vice President Mike Pence to immediately remove Trump via the 25th Amendment. If Pence and Cabinet do not act, Pelosi warned that the Congress might be ready to move forward with impeachment.
She did not offer a timeline about when the House might carry out such action. However, Pelosi added that she does not expect they will wait long for Pence, adding that his answer would either be a "yes or a no."
She accused Trump of stirring up an armed rebellion against the country while speaking to reporters. Describing this as a seditious act, Pelosi said Trump had committed an unspeakable assault on the United States, before calling him deadly to democracy and the American public, Newsweek reported.
Dozens of other Democrats, including Schumer, have called for Trump's removal from office, either via impeachment or the 25th Amendment. Pelosi's remarks were followed by similar comments from Schumer on Thursday during a press conference.
He pointed out that the most effective way to remove Trump from office would require Pence to immediately invoke the 25th amendment. If Pence and the Cabinet refuse to move forward with the president's removal from office, Schumer suggested that the Congress should meet again to impeach Trump.
During a press conference, Schumer also revealed that he and Pelosi tried calling Pence Thursday to tell him to invoke the 25th amendment. After keeping them on hold for 25 minutes, Schumer said, they were informed that the vice president would not come on the phone, so they decided to make the call public because Pence should do it right away.
In an interview with CNN, White House chief of staff John Kelly said Thursday he would support a push for Trump's removal from office if he were still in the Republican's cabinet. He said the cabinet should meet for a discussion, noting that he doesn't think it will happen, though.
Trump's former secretary of Homeland Security said Trump's behavior has been outrageous. Referring to a mob recently breaking into the Capitol, Kelly said it was a direct result of Trump pushing his baseless and dubious claims of massive voter fraud, and accusing the Democrat of stealing the election from him.