Nancy Pelosi Says If Donald Trump Isn’t Removed Via 25th Amendment, “Congress May Be Prepared To Move Forward With Impeachment”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office.

If they don’t, she told reporters on Thursday: “Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus and the American people.”

She added: “While it is only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show.”

Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20, but Pelosi did not give a timeline for Pence to respond. “I don’t think it will take long to get an answer from the Vice President,” she said.

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Earlier on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Trump to be removed immediately joining with others in the party who have urged such an action. Some Republicans have as well, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who told reporters that “there is no question that America would be better off if the president would resign or be removed from office, and if Mike Pence would conduct a peaceful transition of power over the next 13 days until Joe Biden is sworn in.”

Under the 25th Amendment, the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet can give a written declaration “that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Then the vice president would become acting president. The president can challenge the declaration and trigger a process in which Congress would decide the issue. In that case, it would take two-thirds of both houses of Congress to remove the president.

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President-elect Biden has not weighed in on the calls for invoking the 25th Amendment. He told reporters that he would not discuss it on Thursday as he introduced Merrick Garland to be the next attorney general.

Pelosi also said that “accountability is also needed for Republicans in Congress who promoted the extreme conspiracy theories that provoked the violence.”

Trump already has been impeached by the House, but was acquitted in a Senate trial early last year.

Pelosi also called for the resignation of Steven Sund, the chief of Capitol Police, who she said has not called her since the riot at the Capitol.