The US House of Representatives will in the early hours of tomorrow morning vote on a resolution that calls on the vice president Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump immediately from office.
The measure says Mr Pence should "convene and mobilize" Trump's cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to declare the president "incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President."
The 'invoke the 25th amendment' resolution was put forward by Democrat Jamie Raskin, a constitutional law professor.
The resolution urged Mike Pence to “declare what is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office.”
The House is expected to vote on it around 3.30am on Wednesday UK time (10.30pm US Eastern Time), according to a schedule released by House majority leader.
A vote to impeach the president will be held if Mr Pence fails to act, as expected.
Democrats have charged Mr Trump with "incitement of insurrection" over the invasion of the US Capitol last Wednesday.
Dozens have been detained in connection with last week's violence, which left five people dead Meanwhile, the FBI is warning of armed protests in all 50 states by right-wing extremists ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration..
Up to 15,000 National Guard troops will be deployed in Washington DC for the event on January 20.
Spurred on by last Wednesday’s events the six-page House resolution says that the mob "threatened the safety and lives of the Vice President, the Speaker of the House... as the rioters were recorded chanting 'Hang Mike Pence' and 'Where’s Nancy' when Trump tweeted to his supporters that 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country'."
The measure lays out evidence that Mr Trump incited his supporters to commit violence at the Capitol and says that the president has "demonstrated repeatedly, continuously and spectacularly his absolute inability to discharge the most basic and fundamental powers and duties of his office."
It says that Mr Trump didn't respect the results of the 2020 presidential election, isn't respecting the peaceful transfer of power, isn't upholding the constitution and has failed to protect Americans.
The vice president is understood to have met with Mr Trump in the Oval Office on Monday evening, their first contact since the attack on the Capitol.
Prof Bruce Ackerman from Yale law school has said he believes Mr Trump will pardon himself before leaving office but he has said that would not mean he would not face charges.
"The president can only pardon people for their offences against federal law," Prof Ackerman said. "There is every reason to believe however that President Trump will be charged with a large number of criminal offences especially under the law of the state of New York," he added.
President Trump is facing numerous investigations, including New York State inquiries into whether he misled tax authorities, banks or business partners. He has repeatedly dismissed the probe calling it a "witch hunt".
Mr Trump is expected to finally appear in public later today when he will travel to Texas to visit a completed stretch of the border wall with Mexico, one of his administration's signature projects.
A new poll reveals that the majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump should be removed from office before his term ends.
The poll, published on Sunday by ABC News/Ipsos, found that 56% of respondents support his removal prior to Inauguration Day and 67% blame Trump for the Capitol attack
What the 25th Amendment says:
Section 1
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel