Calls are continuing to stack up among lawmakers for Trump to be swiftly removed from office after his continued obsession with baseless election fraud claims came to its inevitable conclusion on Wednesday in the form of a full-blown breach of the U.S. Capitol.
One such path to seeing the failed steak salesman and leader of the tiny penis coalition being ousted mere days before the inauguration of the next POTUS, of course, is to start up 25th Amendment proceedings.
Multiple sources, per an NBC News report published early Thursday, have reported that "informal discussions" have been held within the current administration about invoking the 25h Amendment. Nearly 100 Democratic members of Congress have now expressed support for Trump's removal, be it through the 25th Amendment or some other method.
As you may recall from this November 2020 explainer about Trump's self-pardoning powers, the 25th Amendment has remained a frequently discussed possibility throughout Trump's single-term presidency. Surrounding the 2020 election, it was theorized that Trump could use it to make Mike Pence the acting POTUS, who would then (again, in theory) pardon the previous POTUS.
Under the current post-U.S. Capitol breach circumstances, we should look closely at Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, which focuses on the possibly of a POTUS who's not able to fulfill his constitutional rule but refuses to step down. In short, this section allows for other executive department officials to step in and declare that a POTUS is no longer fit for service.
Per the National Constitution Center, this playing out would look something like this:
"The initial deciding group is the Vice President and a majority of either the Cabinet or some other body that Congress may designate (though Congress has never done so). If this group declares a President 'unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,' the Vice President immediately becomes Acting President. If and when the President pronounces himself able, the deciding group has four days to disagree. If it does not, the President retakes his powers. But if it does, the Vice President keeps control while Congress quickly meets and makes a decision."
Among those pushing for the 25th Amendment approach are Democratic leaders including Chuck Schumer and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Adam Kinzinger, a Republican:
Later Thursday afternoon, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked. If Pence and the cabinet fail to act, Pelosi said, Congress should be prepared to "move forward with impeachment."
As previously reported, Rep. Ilhan Omar has called on Congress to impeach Trump. Others, including Rep. Cori Bush, have introduced legislation that would result in investigations and potential removal of office for Republicans who helped incite the U.S. Capitol breach.
And on Thursday, Reps. David Cicilline, Ted Lieu, and Jamie Raskin—according to a Daily Beast report—authored articles of impeachment against Trump. The washed-up reality TV star, they said, remains "a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution" and should be immediately removed.
A number of complicit charlatans—deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews, FLOTUS chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, and White House social secretary Rickie Niceta among them—have started jumping ship in response to the insurrection.
Others have called for not only the immediate ousting of Trump and his ilk, but also swift arrests for all involved with inciting the eventually fatal coup attempt:
Despite the calls for Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, Grace Panetta of Business Insider reported Thursday evening that the VP has no intention of doing so.
