The speaker of the US house Nancy Pelosi on Saturday said that the Democrats in the House of Representatives would introduce legislation on January 11, demanding President Donald Trump’s impeachment before the end of his tenure of office. The move followed by the Capitol attack created by the Donald Trump followers in the US.
The alleged role of Donald Trump in triggering violent acts in the capitol attack is the reason behind the decision of the Democrats. Two possible scenarios have been suggested for getting Trump removed, the exercise of the 25th Amendment of the Constitution or impeachment. The 25th Amendment lays out the provisions for a transfer of power from a US president who dies, resigns, is removed from office, or for other reasons is unable to fulfill his or her duties.
The first three sections deal with when a president resigns, dies, or becomes ill or temporarily incapacitated. The fourth section provides a multistep process for the vice president and a majority of the officials who lead executive agencies — commonly thought of as the cabinet — to declare that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” That process ultimately requires a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress.
However, in the present scenario, Vice-President Mike Pence does not look interested in taking the 25th amendment route. However, the Democrats have made it clear that they would go ahead with the impeachment legislation if Vice President Mike Pence did not approve the action.
“We must act urgently to protect the Constitution and democracy. Because this president is an imminent threat to both,” Nancy said. The House of Representatives impeached Trump in December 2019 in connection with the Ukraine controversy. But the Senate, with a majority of Republicans, acquitted him. The impeachment trial is supposed to occur in the Senate; no actions can be taken based on the articles of impeachment received from the House without agreement from all the 100 senators before January 19. In this case, no actions can be taken to remove Trump from office before January 20, on which day the President-elect will be sworn in.
