WASHINGTON (AP) – Flashing warnings, Democrats in Congress have devised plans for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, demanding immediate and decisive action to ensure that an “unbalanced” commander-in-chief cannot increase the damage he is said to have inflicted or even set on fire. nuclear power war in his last days in office.
As the country reconciles itself to the violent siege of the United States Capitol by supporters of Trump, which left five dead, the crisis that seems to be among the final acts of his presidency deepens like few other periods in the country’s history. With less than two weeks until he leaves, Democrats want him out – now – and he has few advocates speaking for him in his own Republican party.
“We need to act,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday in a private conference call with Democrats.
And a prominent Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, told the Anchorage Daily News that Trump simply “needs to get out”.
The final days of Trump’s presidency are turning toward a chaotic end as he lurks in the White House, abandoned by many aides, leading Republicans and cabinet members. After refusing to concede defeat in the November election, he now promises a smooth transfer of power when Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20. But even so, he says he will not attend the inauguration – the first presidential scorn since shortly after the Civil War.
In Congress, where many watched and wavered while the president spent four years breaking rules and testing the country’s democratic protections, Democrats are unwilling to take any more chances, with only a few days to go. The chaos that broke out on Wednesday at the Capitol shocked the world and threatened the traditional peaceful transfer of power.
Pelosi said he spoke with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, “to discuss the precautions available to prevent an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing launch codes” for nuclear war. She said Milley ensured that her long-standing safeguards are in place.
The president has exclusive authority to order the launch of a nuclear weapon, but a military commander could refuse the order if it were found to be illegal. Trump has not made these threats publicly, but officials warn of the grave danger if the president is not controlled.
“This unbalanced president could not be more dangerous,” said Pelosi of the current situation.
Biden, meanwhile, said he is focused on his work as he prepares to take office. Asked about the impeachment, he said: “This is a decision to be made by Congress”.
Democrats are considering quick action. A draft of his Impeachment Articles accuses Trump of abuse of power, saying he “made intentional statements that encouraged – and predictably resulted in – imminent illegal action on Capitol Hill,” according to a person familiar with the details who obtained anonymity to discuss they.
The articles are due to be presented on Monday, with a vote in the Chamber as early as Wednesday.
If Trump was impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate, he could also be barred from running for president in 2024 or from holding public office again. He would only be the president twice accused. A person on the call said Pelosi also discussed other ways in which Trump could be forced to resign.
Senators from a bipartisan group called their own summons to consider options for action in Congress, according to an anonymous advisor to reveal private discussions.
It is not useful, argued the White House. Trump spokesman Judd Deere said: “A politically motivated impeachment against a president with 12 days remaining in his term will only serve to further divide our great country.”
Trump was tweeting again on Friday, his Twitter account was reinstated after a brief ban, and he again made an aggressive statement that his supporters should not be “disrespected” after he uploaded a calmer video on Thursday criticizing violence. Towards night, Twitter said it was permanently suspending it from its platform, citing “risk of further incitement to violence”.
The quickest the Senate could start an impeachment trial on the current calendar would be January 20, the day of the inauguration.
Condemnation in the Republican Senate on this date seems unlikely, although in a sign of Trump’s destruction of the party, many Republicans were silent on the issue.
A Trump ally, the leader of the Republican minority, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, of California, spoke out, saying as the White House did that “impeaching the president with only 12 days left of his term will only further divide our country. “
McCarthy said he had contacted Biden and plans to speak with the Democratic president-elect about working together to “lower the temperature”.
But Murkowski said he wants Trump to step down now, and not wait for Biden’s oath on January 20.
“I want him to leave,” she said in a telephone interview with the Anchorage newspaper.
Another leading Republican critic of Trump, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, said he would “definitely consider” impeachment.
Strong criticism of Trump, who urged protesters to march to the Capitol, remained unwavering.
“Every day he remains in office, he is a danger to the Republic,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Schiff, who led Trump’s impeachment in 2019, said in a statement that Trump “lit the wick that exploded on Wednesday at the Capitol.”
Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, tweeted that some people ask, why impeach a president who was only a few days away from office?
“The answer: precedent. It must be clear that no president, now or in the future, can lead an insurrection against the United States government, ”said Sanders.
Pelosi and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer had private connections with Biden on Friday.
They appealed to Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Trump out of office. It is a process to dismiss the president and designate the vice president to take over.
Pelosi said later that the option remains on the table. But action by Pence or the Cabinet now seems unlikely, especially after two senior officials, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transport Secretary Elaine Chao suddenly resigned after the violence and would no longer be in the Office to make such a case.
Trump encouraged legalists at a rally on Wednesday at the White House to march on the Capitol, where Congress was certifying the Electoral College count of Biden’s election.
Trump’s impeachment Chamber in 2019, but the Republican-led Senate acquitted him in early 2020.
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Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Alexandra Jaffe contributed to this report.