The National Manufacturers Association called on Vice President Mike Pence on the 6th to consider using the relevant constitutional amendment to remove President Donald Trump.
Jay Timmons, CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, said that Pence “should seriously consider working with the cabinet to use the Twenty-fifth Amendment to uphold democracy”.
To use the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Vice President and most cabinet members need to declare that the President is unable to perform his duties, and that the Vice President will act as President at that time.
Trump can claim that he can perform his duties normally. If Pence and most cabinet members do not object, Trump can regain power; if Pence and most cabinet members object, it will be left to Congress to judge.
Founded in 1895, the National Manufacturers Association is one of the most influential business groups in the United States, representing manufacturers in 50 states, and its political position is Republican-leaning.
CNN reported that the statement gave an exclamation point to the American business community’s break with Trump.
“Everybody in business is scared,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, founder of the Leadership Academy, CEO of Yale University.
Sonnenfeld agreed with the National Manufacturers Association’s call for Pence and the Cabinet to remove President Trump, and that “the business community will reinforce them.”
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon condemned the violence in Washington, saying it was not what people and the country should be, “We are better than this, and it is the responsibility of the leaders we elect to call for an end to the violence, accept the outcome…
to support the peaceful transition of power”.
On the 6th, the U.S. Congress held a joint meeting of the Senate and the House of Representatives to conduct statistical certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election by state electoral colleges.
After the meeting began, Trump supporters broke into the Capitol and clashed with the police, causing the meeting to be interrupted.
CNN believes that the statement issued by the National Manufacturers Association is shocking because the group has publicly supported Trump and supported the tax cuts Trump introduced.
In 2018, then-House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said Trump’s tax cuts would not be possible without the support of the National Manufacturers Association and Timmons.
Timmons has been the CEO of the National Manufacturers Association since 2011.
Data provided by OpenSecrets website show that during the 2020 U.S. election, the National Manufacturers Association donated $165,000 to Republican congressional candidates, equivalent to 72 percent of the organization’s donations.
