After the riots in the U.S. Capitol, a bipartisan and government in the U.S. Congress, a discussion on how to let the president leave early is rapidly unfolding.
The latest D.C. police said that the riots killed five people, including one congressional police officer. More than 70 people were arrested on the same day.
On the night of the riots, the U.S. Congress resumed the accreditation meeting. In the early morning of January 7, the certification of electoral votes was completed. The current Vice President Pence of the United States officially announced that Biden was elected the 46th President of the United States.
Trump then promised in a statement that he would transfer power to Biden in an “orderly manner.” Although I completely disagree with the outcome of the election and the facts prove my point, there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.” He said.
Mnuchin and Pompeo have a “small meeting”
After the serious riots in the U.S. Congress, although Trump has only 13 days left in office, there is unprecedented domestic voices demanding his early departure.
Some U.S. media quoted legal experts’ analysis as saying that there are two ways to get Trump to step down early: one is to launch the 25th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the other is to impeach him after Congress convict him. Either way, Pence will take over the presidency until Biden is sworn in on January 20.
U.S. media quoted sources on Thursday as saying that many senior officials in the Trump cabinet have privately discussed the launch of the 25th amendment to the Constitution to bring Trump out of office early. The report also said that Trump cabinet Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Secretary of State Pompeo held informal talks with their respective departmental subordinates to discuss how to start the process of removing the president in this way.
Earlier that day, U.S. House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer said that Trump cabinet members, including Pence, must immediately consider launching the amendment, or Trump will face impeachment from Congress again.
The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that if the incumbent president is unable to perform the powers and responsibilities of the presidency, the Vice President can assume the powers and responsibilities of the presidency as the acting president.
U.S. legal experts pointed out that to launch the amendment, more than half of the 15 core ministers in the Trump cabinet and Vice President Pence wrote to the congressional leader that Trump was not suitable for the presidency and that his position would be temporarily replaced by Pence.
In this case, Trump can still claim that he is qualified for the presidency. If Pence and a majority of cabinet ministers no longer dispute this, Trump can continue to hold the presidency, but if they disagree, Congress will vote, during which time Pence can continue to serve as acting president.
Paul Campos, a professor of constitutional science at the University of Colorado in the United States, said that the 25th amendment is an effective way to remove Trump from office and faster than impeachment. Campos pointed out that after the amendment is launched, Pence can become president immediately, but the impeachment process will take many days.
However, some constitutional experts pointed out that the procedure and timing of impeachment are very flexible, and the two houses of Congress can set relevant rules, which may theoretically be completed in one day.
“For example, they [the House of Representatives] can decide to impeach him by noon tomorrow, and then they can go to the Senate to submit the impeachment statement. After the Senate sets the rules, the trial can begin in the afternoon. There is no relevant time limit at the constitutional level.” Frank Bowman, a professor of constitutional science at the University of Missouri, said.
No matter how many people “have intentions”, Pence has no intention?
U.S. media quoted a person familiar with the matter on Thursday as saying that despite the unprecedented rise in the voice of the recall, U.S. Vice President Pence opposed the use of the 25th amendment to the Constitution to allow Trump to leave early.
“This (Revised Amendment 25) will not happen.” A Pence insider said so.
Another U.S. media confirmed the relevant report, saying that Pence did not support the launch of the 25th amendment to dismiss Trump less than two weeks after the start of Biden’s term.
Bolton, a former White House national security adviser, said that, in addition to time factors, if Pence wants to launch the 25th amendment, he needs to privately “secretly summon” cabinet members to sign and declare that “Trump is not suitable for the presidency of the United States”, which can only take effect after obtaining more than half of the signatures.
“Assuming that Pence can successfully get a signature and the relevant information is not leaked to the outside world, this will also be the first time that Trump’s cabinet information has not been leaked.”
Bolton described the scene as “impossible”. He said: “If Pence can successfully get more than half of the signatures of the cabinet, he can submit it to Congress, but Trump will definitely veto it and say that he is still suitable to continue to serve as President of the United States and fire all those who want to remove those who want him from office and replace them with those who are loyal to him.
Bolton said: “Pence needs to appeal to Congress again, and Congress will vote again. If everything succeeds, Pence may be President of the United States for six or seven days. What can you get by doing so?”
U.S. media reported that Trump and Pence have not talked since the riots in Congress. Sources revealed that Trump privately expressed anger that Pence “has failed to help change the election results”, while Pence was “disappointed and sad” with Trump.
