WASHINGTON (AP) – The latest news about President Donald Trump and impeachment (all local times):
1:05 pm
Senator Roy Blunt says he sees no need for Republicans in Congress to hold President Donald Trump responsible for his role in promoting the riot on Capitol Hill last week, but warned him to “be very careful” in his last 10 days in office.
The Missouri Republican called Trump’s decisions and actions that led to last Wednesday’s riot “clearly unwise.” But he says the United States should be “thinking more about the first day of the next presidency” of President-elect Joe Biden than about removing Trump from office.
Blunt says he doesn’t think Trump will act recklessly again. He told CBS’s “Face the Nation” program: “My personal opinion is that the president touched the hot stove on Wednesday and is unlikely to touch it again.”
Biden will take the oath on January 20.
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HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IMPEACHMENT PUSH AT THE CONGRESS:
Democrats in Congress are making plans to impeach President Donald Trump and ensure that an “unbalanced” commander in chief – in the words of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – cannot do any more damage in his remaining days in office. They are trying to send a message to the nation, and to the world, that the mob violence at the Capitol last week, inspired by the White House, will not end.
Read More:
– Silenced by Twitter, Trump seeks new megaphone online
– Pope prays for dead in Capitol riots, calls for calm
– In the wake of the Capitol riot, Americans struggle for answers
– No surprise: Trump left many clues that he would not go quietly
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HERE IS HAPPENING:
11:55 am
Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says President Donald Trump is out of control and should be immediately removed from office as a “clear and present danger to the health and safety of the American people”.
Jeffries, who chairs the Caucus Democratic Chamber, says that as a co-equal branch of government, it is Congress’ job to keep Trump under control – either by impeachment, demanding his resignation or by pressing the Trump Office to invoke the 25th Amendment that declares him unfit to serve.
The New York Democrat says that while Trump’s Twitter account may now be permanently suspended, the president still has access to the country’s nuclear codes and other weapons of power.
Jeffries pointed to a “constitutional responsibility” to act. He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program: “Donald Trump is completely and totally out of control, and even his longtime facilitators have now come to that conclusion.”
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10:10 am
Majority leader in the House, Jim Clyburn, said the House could vote this week for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, but postpone sending the legislation to the Senate until many of the secretaries in President Joe Biden’s office are confirmed for their positions.
The South Carolina Democrat said “it could be Tuesday or Wednesday before action is taken, but I think it will be done this week”.
Clyburn says he is concerned that a Senate trial could distract from the process of confirming Biden’s nominees.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, said an impeachment trial could begin as early as January 20 – the day of the inauguration.
Clyburn says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will decide when to appoint impeachment administrators and send the articles to the Senate. He says one option would be to give Biden the “100 days he needs to get his schedule up and running and maybe we’ll send the articles out sometime later.”
Clyburn appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday”.
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9:40
A second Republican senator asked President Donald Trump to step down after the Capitol riots last week.
This time it is Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. He is asking Trump to step down for what Toomey says would be good for the country after the Capitol rebellion that was carried out by supporters of the president.
Toomey says dismissal is “the best way forward, the best way to put that person in the rearview mirror for us.” But Toomey says he is not optimistic about Trump’s resignation before his term ends on January 20.
Toomey also says that Trump’s role in encouraging the riot is an “impeachable offense”.
Toomey is the second Republican senator to resign Trump, joining Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Trump supporters, who were furious at his defeat for Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. Five people were killed.
Toomey was interviewed on Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” and NBC’s “Meet the Press”.
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12:15 pm
President Donald Trump is facing growing democratic momentum to challenge him a second time.
And a leading Republican, Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, says he thinks Trump’s role in encouraging a deadly riot on Capitol Hill is an “impeachable offense”.
But Toomey is almost saying he would vote to remove Trump from office.
A Democratic congressman, David Cicciline, of Rhode Island, says that an impeachment proposal already has 185 co-sponsors. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is telling fellow Democrats to prepare to return to Washington next week.
Pelosi says Trump should be held responsible, but she has not committed to an impeachment vote.