Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the future Senate Majority Leader, issued a statement this morning calling on Vice President Mike Pence to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office. “What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president,” Schumer ranted, declaring that Jan. 6, 2021, would go down in history as another terrible “day of infamy,” as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had been in 1941. “This president should not hold office one day longer,” he demanded, warning that if the cabinet “won’t stand up” and act, then the Congress should “intervene to impeach the President.”
Recall that it was Schumer, always loyal to the intelligence community, who told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow early in Donald Trump’s presidency that the President was making a big mistake in challenging that intelligence community, because “they have six ways to Sunday to get you.” LaRouche movement leader Diane Sare’s 2022 independent campaign against Schumer for his Senate seat will be a particularly timely intervention.
The always sanctimonious House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) joined Schumer today in demanding that the 25th Amendment be invoked, repeating the “insurrection” line and warning that “any day can be a horror show for America” as long as Trump remains in office. He is “a dangerous man...this is an emergency of the highest magnitude,” she told the media. She said she’d wait to see whether Pence responds quickly on the 25th Amendment call, before making any decision on impeachment, CNBC reported today. Meanwhile, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who was the driving force behind the Democrats’ failed impeachment effort against Trump, also wrote to the Vice President, urging him to immediately begin proceedings to invoke the 25th Amendment. Judiciary Committee members David Ciciline (D-RI) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) added that Trump’s behavior yesterday shows he is not “mentally sound,” is “unable to accept or process the results of the 2020 election,” and thus should be removed through the 25th Amendment, Politico reported today.
According to an NBC tally, there are now 100 legislators who have called for Trump’s removal, either through the 25th Amendment or impeachment. Minnesota Rep. Omar Ilham is said to be drawing up articles of impeachment. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has also called on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment.
