American Democrats warned on Sunday that they are ready to launch a new impeachment, a historic impeachment proceeding against Donald Trump, if Vice President Mike Pence does not bring himself to remove him from office.
• Read also: Republican calls for Trump’s resignation multiply
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Four days after the Capitol events, which left 5 dead and shook America, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, announced a series of actions to remove the Republican president, described as “imminent threat” against democracy and the American Constitution.
Democrats will first appeal to Mike Pence.
The House will be asked on Monday, and if necessary Tuesday, to vote on a resolution asking him to remove Donald Trump from his functions. In a rapid procedure and then, if necessary, in a formal vote.
The powerful leader of the Democrats, 80, says the impeachment procedure will be introduced immediately. The indictment article has already been drafted.
25e amendment
Democrats call on Mike Pence to urgently activate the 25e amendment of the Constitution which consists, for the vice-president and the principal ministers, of noting the incapacity of the president to exercise his functions.
Faithful to Donald Trump, but no longer in contact with him since the events of last Wednesday, Mike Pence has so far shown no willingness to trigger this device.
Nancy Pelosi specifies that the vice-president will have 24 hours to respond to the House’s injunction which would amount to making him endorse executive powers for the last ten days of Trump’s mandate. President-elect Joe Biden is to be sworn in on Jan.20 on the steps of the Capitol.
Democrats believe that the Republican billionaire is now an “unbalanced” and dangerous president and should therefore be dismissed.
They also consider that he encouraged his supporters to march last Wednesday on the Capitol where Mike Pence, held by the Constitution, solemnly announced the results of the presidential election of November 3. A victory for Joe Biden that Donald Trump never wanted to accept.
Some Republican elected officials on Sunday called on Donald Trump to resign to spare the country the complexities of the impeachment procedure such as the 25e amendment.
“Unpardonable acts”
It “would be the best option,” Senator Pat Toomey told CNN. Since the presidential election of November 3, which he lost, Donald Trump “has sunk into a level of madness and has committed absolutely unthinkable and unforgivable acts,” he added.
“The best thing for the unity of the country, it would be that it resigns”, added on ABC Adam Kinzinger, elected Republican of the House.
Isolated in the White House, released by several ministers, the American billionaire does not seem willing to go of his own accord. He even plans to travel to Texas on Tuesday to praise his immigration policy and the construction of the border wall with Mexico.
But, ousted from Twitter and other major social networks that want to avoid further incitement to violence, Donald Trump now has limited options for communicating with the general public.
In power since 2017, Donald Trump has already been targeted in Congress by a first impeachment procedure, opened by the same Nancy Pelosi at the end of 2019 on the accusation of having asked a foreign country, Ukraine, to investigate his rival Joe Biden. He had been acquitted in the Senate, with a Republican majority, in early 2020.
Donald Trump could thus become the only American president in history indicted twice in such an impeachment procedure.
But it is a long and complicated procedure and several voices have been raised in the Democratic camp believing that it could slow down the plans of Joe Biden, who has made the response to the COVID-19 pandemic his priority.
“Let’s give the president-elect 100 days” at the start of his term to allow him to tackle the most pressing problems, suggested House Democrat James Clyburn. “We could perhaps introduce the articles [de mise en accusation] a little bit after”.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, for his part, said on CNN that an impeachment procedure after January 20 “would not make sense.”
Joe Biden remains very careful. The decision onimpeachment returns to Congress, he said.