Wyden, Merkley join growing calls in Congress for Trump removal by impeachment or 25th Amendment
By Clare Foran, CNN
(CNN) -- A growing number of lawmakers -- including from Democratic leadership -- are calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office, either through impeachment or the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday.
The calls have come largely from Democrats so far, but at least one congressional Republican has joined in. GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a frequent critic of the President, has called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, saying in a video message on Thursday, "the President must now relinquish control of the executive branch, voluntarily or involuntarily."
The top Democrat in the Senate has also embraced the 25th Amendment push.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer put out a statement Thursday denouncing the "insurrection" at the Capitol "incited by the President," and saying, "This president should not hold office one day longer."
"The quickest and most effective way -- it can be done today -- to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment. If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president," he said in the statement.
Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have issued similar calls:
As I said last night Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to our democracy. His Cabinet must use the 25th amendment to act. And if Mike Pence and Trump’s “see-no-evil” Cabinet don’t have the stomach to do their duty, Congress should re-convene to impeach this dangerous man.
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) January 7, 2021
Trump is absolutely unfit and should be removed from office. If we can do it by Jan 20 by impeachment, I am all for it. The cabinet and VP can and should invoke the 25th Amendment TODAY. And there should be criminal investigations and prosecutions. Justice demands accountability.
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) January 7, 2021
Invoking the 25th Amendment would require Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove Trump from office due to his inability to "discharge the powers and duties of his office" -- an unprecedented step.
Other rank-and-file Democrats have urged impeachment in the wake of the mob violence at the Capitol that took place as a joint session of Congress met to count the Electoral Votes affirming President-elect Joe Biden's win amid false claims from Trump that the election was rigged against him.
LIVE UPDATES: Congress certifies Biden win after violent Capitol riot
Four members of the progressive "squad" of Democratic lawmakers -- Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley -- all spoke out in support of impeachment in the wake of the violent siege of the Capitol.
"I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment. Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate. We can't allow him to remain in office, it's a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath," Omar tweeted Wednesday.
"This is on Donald Trump, period. He called folks to D.C. and gave them marching orders. He needs to be impeached and removed immediately," Tlaib tweeted Wednesday.
With Biden's inauguration date fast approaching on January 20, it is highly unlikely that there would be adequate time or political will in Congress for any kind of impeachment effort.
Any 25th Amendment push is also unlikely to come to fruition with little time left before Biden's inauguration. The calls in Congress, however, underscore the extent to which lawmakers are reeling and furious with the President in the wake of the devastation at the Capitol on Wednesday.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives impeached Trump already in 2019. In order to remove a President from office through impeachment, the Senate must vote to convict after an impeachment trial. That did not happen in the GOP-controlled Senate where Trump was ultimately acquitted.
After the pro-Trump mob was cleared from the Capitol, lawmakers reconvened late in the evening to continue the Electoral vote count. Congress completed the count and finalized Biden's win in the early hours of Thursday morning.
