House Democrats began the process of trying to remove President Trump from office days before the end of his term, sparring with the GOP at a fiery hearing on a measure that would request that Vice President Mike Pence determine him unfit for office by invoking the 25th Amendment.
The House will vote on a measure later Tuesday that calls on Pence to determine that Trump is unfit for office following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by throngs of his supporters, who were angry about the presidential election that Trump said was fraudulent.
“By his actions and inactions on Jan. 6, the president has proven that he is unable to discharge the duties and powers of his office,” House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said at the start of the hearing to advance the bill. “I wish he would resign, but he is apparently unwilling to do so. It is past time for the vice president to do the right thing here.”
Congress can’t force Pence to take action. McGovern said a bipartisan vote for the measure may encourage him.
“Our democracy and freedom can’t risk another day of the Trump presidency,” he added.
The measure is poised to pass easily under the Democratic House majority, although Pence has signaled he won’t try to oust Trump.
Democrats have a backup plan: On Wednesday, they’ll take up an impeachment article charging Trump with inciting an insurrection.
The effort to oust Trump during his final days in Congress has split the GOP. While some Republicans will likely back impeachment and could also support the resolution, GOP lawmakers clashed with Democrats at the hearing, the first panel to meet since the Capitol was attacked on Jan. 6.
Republicans on the Rules panel said the effort to remove Trump just days before his term ends on Jan. 20 will further divide the nation and could provoke additional discontent.
“I just think it’s time to look forward as we move ahead, both in our national discourse but also with what we debate here in the halls of Congress,” said Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a Pennsylvania Republican. “I hope we can move forward and focus on measures that unite this country rather than partisan ploys aimed at further dividing us.”
The hearing grew particularly acrimonious when Democrats tried to force Rep. Jim Jordan, a top Republican from Ohio and Trump ally, to declare that “the election was not stolen.”
The two sides went back and forth for several minutes. Jordan pointed out that Democrats have contested past GOP presidential election results and that he never said the election was stolen, only that Congress should investigate irregularities that have led to millions of people questioning President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“I want to get this straight,” Jordan said, “The Left says they want to silence conservative speech. Now that’s not good enough. Now you have to say what the Left wants.”
Jordan never obliged the Democrats and instead raised the repeated efforts by Democrats to impeach Trump since he took office in 2017.
Jordan also cited the anecdotal election problems that delayed results or produced results that appeared inconsistent, such as the strong performance of Republicans down the ballot and the question about the security of mail-in voting that was used by millions of people.
“Democrats don’t want to look at that, nope,” Jordan said.
Democrats said that due to Trump’s actions ahead of the Jan. 6 siege, in which he continued to say the election was stolen, they can’t trust what he might do between now and Jan. 20. McGovern said Trump continues to “signal” to his supporters that the election was fraudulent. This morning, Trump told reporters, “I want no violence.”
“We do not know what Trump will do in the interim,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, a North Carolina Democrat. “That is why we are calling on the vice president. If we tell the vice president we have his back and care about the people of this country and democracy and the peaceful transfer of power, that’s a resolution worth voting for. We cannot predict this president. He could do anything.”
