Administration officials began to discuss the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump
Donald TrumpWarnock defeats Loeffler in the second round of the Georgia Senate The Memorandum: Georgia voters strike a blow to Trump Eric Trump warns of primary challenges for Republicans who are not opposed to election results MORE office, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Officials exchanged phone calls and messages about the extraordinary measure, which would require most Cabinet officials plus Vice President Pence to declare to Congress that Trump is unable to fulfill his obligations as president.
Discussions appear to be limited and it is not clear whether they have reached the level of any Cabinet officer. It is unclear whether officials would actually move forward with invoking the 25th Amendment, or that sufficient Cabinet members would even support it, particularly given that Trump has only two weeks left in office.
A White House official said Pence was not approached or involved in any search for the 25th Amendment.
Still, the fact that it is being discussed reflects the speed with which Trump’s position deteriorated over Wednesday, which saw him urge his supporters to march on the Capitol before they forced him into the building after crushing the police.
A former White House official acknowledged the possibility of discussions about the 25th Amendment, but said he had not realized that there was any serious talk about it at this point.
The Trump Office includes many officials who have been extremely loyal to him, and it seems doubtful that most would agree to remove him.
Meanwhile, Democrats have increased public pressure on Trump administration officials to take an extraordinary step. A group of Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Pence on Wednesday night, asking him to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office after the day’s chaotic events. Some Democrats also called for Trump to be stopped and removed from office.
The National Association of Manufacturers, a trade group that had an influence on the Trump administration, also issued a statement saying that Pence “should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.”
Republicans also publicly rebuked Trump after the violence and said he has a responsibility.
Sen. Pat Toomey
Patrick (Pat) Joseph ToomeyThe government used the Patriot Act to collect records of website visitors in 2019 The appeals court ruled that the mass collection of telephone data from the NSA is illegal. Dunford withdraws from consideration to chair the coronavirus supervisory panel MORE (R-Pa.) He referred to Trump as a “demagogue who chose to spread falsehoods” in comments on the Senate floor on Wednesday night, when Congress met again to count the votes of the Electoral College. Sen. Richard Burr
Richard Mauze BurrRepublican infighting in the election intensifies Seven Senate contests in 2022 Lara Trump leads Republicans in 2022 North Carolina Senate poll MORE (RN.C.) said in a statement that Trump “takes responsibility for today’s events, promoting the unfounded conspiracy theories that led to this point.”
CBS News reported for the first time that there were talks about using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump. Axios later reported that senior State Department officials were encouraging talks about the measure.
Discussions about how to deal with Trump’s last two weeks in office, or whether he should be removed before that, heated up in response to the violence that engulfed the Capitol building on Wednesday.
Trump, at a rally at the White House Ellipse, further fueled the flames of the conspiracy, again, falsely insisting that he had won the 2020 presidential election. He asked his supporters to march to the Capitol and make their voices heard .
Shortly thereafter, Trump supporters dominated the police outside the Capitol and broke into the building. Lawmakers, officials, the press and Pence were all evacuated or ordered to take shelter there. A woman was shot and killed in chaos.
In subsequent statements, Trump called for peace, but at no time did he condemn the violence initiated by his supporters. Instead, he seemed to approve of it, calling his supporters “great patriots” who were responding to the election and saying to the protesters, “Remember this day forever!”
Subsequently, three White House advisers resigned on Wednesday, with additional exits expected in the coming days.