Republicans block House call for Mike Pence to oust Donald Trump

11 January 2021, 17:04

Mike Pence and Donald Trump (J. Scott Applewhite and Evan Vucci/AP)
Pence-Trump. Picture: PA

Under the 25th Amendment, the vice president and Cabinet could make a move if they deemed the president to be unfit for office.

A House resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority to remove President Donald Trump from office was blocked by Republicans.

Democrats in the House are pushing Mr Pence and the Cabinet to oust Mr Trump, saying he is unfit for office after encouraging a protest march that turned into a mob that ransacked the US Capitol in a deadly siege.

Mr Pence has given no indication he is ready to proceed on such a course, which would involve invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, including a vote by a majority of the Cabinet to oust Mr Trump before he leaves office on January 20.

Democratic President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on that date.

With just days left in Mr Trump’s presidency, the House also is preparing to impeach Mr Trump this week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying first to put pressure on Republicans to tell Mr Trump it is time to go.

Mr Trump would face a single charge — “incitement of insurrection” — over the riot at the US Capitol, according to a draft of the articles.

Politicians were set to introduce the legislation on Monday, with voting in midweek.

The four-page impeachment bill draws from Mr Trump’s own false statements about his election defeat to Biden; his pressure on state officials in Georgia to “find” him more votes; and his White House rally ahead of the Capitol siege, in which he encouraged thousands of supporters to “fight like hell” before they stormed the building on Wednesday.

A violent mob of Mr Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and windows and rampaged through the Capitol, forcing politicians to scatter as they were finalising Mr Biden’s victory over Mr Trump in the Electoral College.

Members of the military stand on the steps of the Library of Congress’ Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington (Patrick Semansky/AP)
Members of the military stand on the steps of the Library of Congress’ Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington (Patrick Semansky/AP)

“President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government,” the legislation said.

The bill from Representatives David Cicilline, Ted Lieu, Jamie Raskin and Jerrold Nadler, said Mr Trump threatened “the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power” and “betrayed” trust.

“He will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office,” they wrote.

Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat, said on CBS: “We need to move forward with alacrity.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will proceed with legislation to impeach Mr Trump as she pushes the vice president and the Cabinet to invoke constitutional authority to force him out, warning that Trump is a threat to democracy after the deadly assault on the Capitol.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Donald Trump has been accused of 'appeasement'

Ukraine’s future at stake as world leaders gather in Munich - with Trump accused of ‘appeasing’ Putin

Near-Earth asteroid, artwork

NASA scientist reveals list of countries that face being hit by huge 'city killer' asteroid the size of Big Ben

This illustrative image shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and United States President Donald Trump (right).

Donald Trump is 'setting preconditions for withdrawing from NATO', his former advisor tells LBC

Naya Rivera

Glee star Naya Rivera's heartbreaking final words to her son before she drowned revealed

The young man was swallowed by a whale

Shocking moment whale swallows kayaker whole before spitting him back out

Deise Moura has been arrested on suspicion of killing her relatives with a poisonous Christmas cake

Woman accused of murder after 'Christmas cake poisoning' that killed three is found dead in prison cell

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour

Mystery deepens over British couple found dead in France as wife 'made appointments' before deaths

Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attacks, block Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv during a protest calling for the release of all hostages

Hamas backs down over Israeli hostage deal threat amid fears ceasefire will collapse

The largest of the Chagos islands, Diego Garcia, the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States

US makes last-ditch intervention in Chagos islands negotiations amid concerns China will benefit from deal

Police at the scene after the car crashed into protesters

Afghan asylum seeker arrested after car ploughs into crowd leaving dozens of people injured including children

Emergency services work near the scene of an explosion at a bar where a grenade was thrown, in Grenoble, on February 12, 2025.

At least 12 injured after man wielding assault rifle throws grenade into bar

Italian F1 Grand Prix - Previews

Nightclub bouncer behind £12m plot to reveal Formula One star Michael Schumacher's health secrets jailed

Josef Fritzl

Incest monster Josef Fritzl could walk free from prison next year - and expects 'cheering crowds' to greet him

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, shakes hands with Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Feb.

Ukraine's NATO membership plans 'unrealistic' says US - as defence secretary claims US troops won't be peacekeepers

Lucy Harrison

British woman, 23, dies after being shot dead at dad's US house as 'utterly heartbroken' family pays tribute

An asteroid could hit earth in 2036.

NASA makes 'emergency' decision over asteroid the size of Big Ben that could strike Earth