Wisconsin’s federal Dem lawmakers have joined calls for Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office.
“President Trump incited a violent insurrection against Congress as we were working to faithfully carry out our constitutional duties to accept the vote of the American people,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, said in a statement last night. “This attack on our democracy makes it clear he has broken his oath to support and defend the constitution, and that he is unfit to serve.”
The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and either a majority of the Cabinet or a review panel appointed by congressional lawmakers to deem the president unfit for office. At that point, the vice president would be elevated to the Oval Office. If a president provides a written declaration there is no inability to perform the duties of the office, it would trigger a process that includes a two-thirds vote on both houses for removal. The procedure has never been used to permanently remove a president from office.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, in a statement said Trump “has long been orchestrating strategies to circumvent the democratic process and to remain in power despite his landslide loss.”
“(Thirteen) days is simply too long to permit him to remain in power where he has access to his sycophants at the Department of Defense and the formal levers of power,” she said. “America can’t wait, Trump must be removed now.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, indicated he would support impeaching Trump again if Pence and the Cabinet do not act. Moore in a tweet also backed impeachment.
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, said today he hopes Republicans will push Trump to resign. Failing that, he said Pence should explore using the 25th Amendment to remove president. But Kind was skeptical of the time frame to pursue impeachment and said he worried about the precedent such a move would set.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, called on President-elect Joe Biden to condemn the impeachment push.
“From the riots in Kenosha, Portland, Chicago, Minneapolis and dozens of other cities to what happened in D.C. this week, what we need right now is leaders to tone down their actions, not enflame the situation,” Steil said.
The calls to remove Trump from office come after more than half of the Dem lawmakers in the state Legislature yesterday sent a letter to Pence urging him to do the same.
See Baldwin’s statement here.
See Moore’s statement here.
See Pocan’s tweet here.
See Moore’s tweet here.
See Steil’s statement here.
