January 12th local time, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to formally pass the resolution by a vote of 223 to 205, asking Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to remove President Trump.
According to CNN, the House of Representatives also plans to vote on the bill to impeach President Trump on January 13 local time.
Trump has aroused great anger by calling the 25th Amendment “zero risk” to him, and calling the impeachment a “witch hunt”, according to the Capitol Hill.
Trump’s presidency is only one week away. Calls for removal continue unabated, and impeachment continues. Is Trump really betrayed?
Several House Republicans support impeachment
According to Forbes magazine, so far, 10 to 20 Republicans have privately said that they will support impeachment, including five Republicans who have publicly said that they will vote for Trump’s impeachment.
Rep. Boytler, a Republican from Washington State, announced on Twitter that she planned to vote to impeach President Trump. She accused Trump of “inciting a riot intended to prevent the peaceful transfer of power”.
Rep. Fred Upton, a Republican from Michigan, also supported the impeachment of Trump. Upton said in a statement that Trump described his inflammatory remarks at the rally on January 6th local time as “completely appropriate” and he did not show any regret about the riots in the Capitol.
Upton added, “Congress must hold Trump accountable and make it clear that our country cannot and will not tolerate any president’s attempt to obstruct a peaceful handover with the next president.”
Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, also said he would support the impeachment of Trump.
“Trump summoned his supporters to light the fire of the attack,” she said in the statement.” The President of the United States has never betrayed his position and his oath to the Constitution so much.
In addition, Republican Representatives Adam Kinzinger and John Catko also said that they would vote to impeach Trump.
McConnell is “happy” about impeachment
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell also appears to have endorsed impeachment.
In an interview with The New York Times, people familiar with the matter said that Mitch McConnell told aides that he thought Trump’s behavior was impeachable and was “happy” that Democrats pushed for impeachment, which would make it easier for them to remove Trump from the Republican Party.
McConnell’s advisers speculated that if the impeachment resolution was submitted to the Senate, 12 or more Republican senators might support Trump’s conviction at the Senate trial, according to the New York Times.
The report pointed out that if Trump is to be convicted, 17 Republicans will need to join the Democratic camp to vote against him.
3 cabinet members resign
After the riots in the Capitol, three officials in the Trump cabinet have resigned one after another.
According to CNN, on January 11 local time, Chad Wolff resigned as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, which was replaced by Peter Geiner, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Recent events, including ongoing litigation over whether he has statutory powers as acting secretary, have left DHS from receiving the attention and resources it deserves at a critical time of power transfer,” he said in his resignation statement.
In September last year, Acting Secretary Wolf was nominated by Trump for “turn to normal”. But on the second day of the Capitol riots, Wolf issued a statement criticizing the riot attack, calling on Trump to “strongly condemn it”.
Hours later, the White House withdrew the nomination for Wolf, but denied that the move was related to Wolf’s statement.
On January 7th local time, U.S. Secretary of Transport Zhao Xiaolan first tweeted her resignation, becoming the first Secretary of the Interior to resign after the riots in Congress.
Shortly thereafter, Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, also announced her resignation. DeVos also accused Trump of inciting the riot in his resignation.
Allies abandon him and leave
After the congressional riots, Trump and his government officials were also treated coldly internationally.
According to the BBC, British Prime Minister Johnson, a former ally of Trump, said in a speech that Trump’s behavior of making people question the election results and even encouraging supporters to go to the Capitol was “completely wrong”. Johnson noted that he “unreservedly condemned” Trump’s behavior.
According to Reuters, on January 12th local time, U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo also cancelled his last trip to Europe before leaving. Previously, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Arthur Byrne and several senior EU officials refused to meet with Pompeo.
Pompeo had condemned the riots in the Capitol, but he did not mention Trump’s role in inciting supporters.
In an RTL radio interview on the second day of the Capitol riot, Ashburn said he was shocked by the congressional riots and called Trump a “criminal” and a “political arsonist”.
According to the U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), the U.S. State Department spokesman Morgan Otags issued a statement saying that the trip to Europe was cancelled to continue the transitional cooperation with Biden team.
Three people familiar with the matter said in an interview with Reuters that Pompeo was a close ally of Trump, and that after the congressional riots, all European allies were embarrassed about Pompeo.
Pence, who is still “strong”
According to the Associated Press, the House of Representatives has now officially passed a resolution requiring Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to the U.S. Constitution to remove President Trump.
A Democratic congressman told CNN that the result of the House vote did not legally bind Pence’s behavior.
And before the House began the voting process, Pence wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, saying that he would not invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump.
“I didn’t succumb to political pressure and exercise more power than the Constitution gave me to change the election outcome before, nor do I now I’m not succumb to the demands of the House to join the political game at a critical moment in America,” Pence wrote in the letter.
He added that “[quoting the 25th amendment] will set a bad precedent”.
Pence also noted that President-elect Biden is preparing to take office and urges Pelosi and all members of Congress to ease emotions.
Now is the time to unite the country.
Trump is still “speaking harsh words”
According to the Capitol Hill, Trump made his first appearance after the Capitol riots on January 12 local time. He set out from the White House to Texas to briefly respond to impeachment.
“This is a continuation of the largest witch hunt” in American political history, and he also pointed out that impeachment has been introduced at home. He became very angry.
Later, in his Texas address, Trump said, “Freedom of speech is suffering unprecedented shocks. The 25th Amendment is ‘zero risk’ for me, but it will plague Biden and his administration.
As the saying goes, be careful of your own wishes, and you may not get what you want.”
Trump said that the impeachment scam has caused great anger, division and pain, far beyond ordinary people’s imagination.
Especially in this very fragile moment, this is very dangerous for the United States.
The Hill noted that Trump’s speech was mainly to publicize his achievements in combating immigration and building the wall along the southern border during his tenure.
However, his speech also said that he did not recognize his role in the congressional riots.
