House Republicans Block Resolution Asking Pence to Remove Trump From Office With 25th Amendment

House Republicans have blocked a resolution asking Vice President Mike Pence to remove President Donald Trump from office by way of the 25th Amendment. CNN commentator Keith Boykin shared a C-SPAN clip from the House floor, in which the resolution was objected to. Boykin noted that the resolution will next move to a “roll call vote,” as well as a resolution on impeaching Trump.

The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is about presidential disability and succession. Section 4 of the amendment specifically outlines the basis and process for a vice president and presidential cabinet to remove power from a sitting president who has been determined to be “unable to discharge the powers and duties” of the office. At this time, the vice president would become the acting U.S. president. This is typically a temporary circumstance, used when a president undergoes anesthesia or some other medical event. The president would eventually regain the power, and things would go back to normal order.

In the current instance, however, many Democrats have been calling for Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment until President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are sworn into office on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. This is due to many feeling that Trump’s rhetoric over the past months, and even years, have incited violence from his supporters, which culminated in the domestic terror attack on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. The concern seems to be that he could potentially cause more division and damage if allowed to remain president for the next nine days.

In a statement on the block, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “On Wednesday, the president incited a deadly insurrection against America that targeted the very heart of our Democracy. The president represents an imminent threat to our Constitution, our country and the American people, and he must be removed from office immediately. Today, in pro forma session, Leader Hoyer introduced a Unanimous Consent request to take up legislation by Congressman Jamie Raskin calling on the vice president to mobilize the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to remove the President.”

She continued, “The House Republicans rejected this legislation to protect America, enabling the president’s unhinged, unstable and deranged acts of sedition to continue. Their complicity endangers America, erodes our Democracy, and it must end. The House will next take up the Raskin legislation in regular order to call upon the Vice President to activate the 25th Amendment to remove the president.”

Finally, Pelosi said, “We are further calling on the vice president to respond within 24 hours after passage. As our next step, we will move forward with bringing impeachment legislation to the Floor. The president’s threat to America is urgent, and so too will be our action.”