By Stacy M. Brown
President Donald Trump threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of government, according to more than 200 House Democrats who introduced articles of impeachment against him Monday.
If the measure succeeds, it will place Trump alone as the only president twice impeached.
Congress introduced an impeachment article against Trump on Monday for “incitement of insurrection” when his supporters violently breached the Capitol Wednesday.
The measure, which has more than 200 co-sponsors, says Trump “gravely endangered the United States’ security and its institutions of government.”
Before introducing impeachment legislation, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) attempted to pass a resolution to ask Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
The law has only been used a handful of times, most recently when, on June 8, 2002, President George W. Bush’s powers were transferred to Vice President Dick Cheney for about an hour because Bush was under sedation for a medical procedure.
Section 4 of the Amendment strips power from the president.
It states that the Vice President and most of the Cabinet can deem the President unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
If the 25th Amendment is invoked, Pence would assume the presidency and serve out what’s left in Trump’s term.
A floor vote on the proposal is now scheduled for Tuesday.
“We are calling on the vice president to respond within 24 hours,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wrote in announcing the 25th Amendment measure.
Pelosi assured that either way, Democrats are proceeding with impeachment.
“[Trump] needs to be removed. He’s dangerous,” she said.
In the impeachment legislation, Congress members wrote that the president “demonstrated that he would remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law.”
“President Trump warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States,” the resolution says.
Specifically, the resolution identifies Trump’s Jan. 2 phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urging him to “find” enough votes to overturn the state’s election results.
“We cannot allow this unprecedented provocation to go unanswered,” House members said in a statement. “Everyone involved in this assault must be held accountable, beginning with the man most responsible for it — President Donald Trump. We cannot begin to heal the soul of this country without first delivering swift justice to all its enemies — foreign and domestic.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) also filed two impeachment articles related to the insurrection at the Capitol and Trump’s call to Raffensperger.
Also, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) introduced a resolution “to expel members who voted to overturn the election and incited a white supremacist coup that has left people dead.”
“They have violated the 14th Amendment,” she said in a tweet Sunday.
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