House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against Donald Trump, charging him with inciting last week’s riot and siege on the U.S. Capitol. Meanwhile, House Republicans on Monday blocked a resolution aimed at encouraging the removal of President Donald Trump through the 25th Amendment.
As stated by a report from The Hill, a trio of House Democrats close to leadership on Monday introduced a single article of impeachment against President Trump, charging him with inciting a mob of his supporters to carry out a violent attack on the Capitol in a bid to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory.
The article, co-authored by Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Ted Lieu (Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.), states that Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by “willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States.”
The two efforts to remove Trump from office in the waning days of his presidency comes after a pro-Trump mob broke into the Capitol last week in a deadly riot.
UPDATED TEXT of the Impeachment Article authored by Cicilline/Lieu/Raskin following 1/6 attack on Capitol by pro-Trump mob pic.twitter.com/RNABKCYM3d
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) January 11, 2021
According to an USA Today report, Democrats can bring up on Tuesday the 25th Amendment resolution and the House could consider the impeachment article the following day.
“There may well be a vote on impeachment on Wednesday,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters. If passed by the Democrat-controlled House, Hoyer said the impeachment article should immediately be sent to the Senate.
“He incited insurrection”
While the article has no Republican co-sponsors, Rep. David Cicilline, one of the authors, said he’s hopeful some will vote for it. “He incited insurrection against the government of the United States that resulted in the death of five individuals, dozens of people injured in violence here at the Capitol,” the Rhode Island Democrat told reporters Monday.
Cicilline said he and other Democrats would prefer that Vice President Mike Pence trigger the 25th Amendment or that Trump resigns on his own.
Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., on Monday blocked Democrats from bringing up a resolution to urge Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and become acting president.
You can read: Senator Chuck Schumer calls Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment
Under House rules, it took only one lawmaker to block immediate consideration of the resolution aimed at pressuring Republicans to take power away from Trump.
Mooney had been among the House Republicans who voted last week not to accept the state-certified election results showing Trump lost reelection.
“A horrified nation”
The resolution calls on Pence and the Cabinet to, within 24 hours, “declare what is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that lawmakers must “act with urgency” because Trump is an imminent threat to both the Constitution and democracy.
The impeachment article charges Trump with inciting an insurrection by falsely claiming the Nov. 3 election was stolen from him and encouraging supporters to storm the Capitol as lawmakers were certifying the results.
