Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would consider impeachment if Trump is not removed from office immediately.
“If the Vice President and Cabinet do not act,” Pelosi said, “The Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment.”
Pelosi, a California Democrat, holds the power to bring up an impeachment vote. Across the Capitol, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat poised to control the gavel, said he also backs impeachment if Trump is not removed.
The two leaders said the 25th Amendment must be invoked by Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s Cabinet.
Trump has only 13 days left in office.
Pelosi said impeachment, if Trump does not leave immediately ,”is the overwhelming view” of the Democratic caucus.
The call comes a day after pro-Trump rioters took over the Capitol with violence, forcing an evacuation and lockdown and resulting in the death of one female rioter.
Lawmakers blame Trump, who met with protesters earlier in the day to complain the election was stolen by Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump was impeached last year, but the Senate did not convict him.
Pelosi called on the State, Defense, and Treasury secretaries, as well as the attorney general, to move to remove the president.
She called Trump “a dangerous person who should not continue in office.”
