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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with the top U.S. military commander on Friday about taking precautions to ensure that President Donald Trump cannot initiate hostilities or order a nuclear attack in his remaining days in office.
Pelosi said in a letter to Democratic lawmakers that he spoke with Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the measures available to control Trump.
“The situation of this unbalanced president could not be more dangerous and we must do everything we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced attack on our country and our democracy,” Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues.
The mayor later said in a conference call with House Democrats that Milley assured her that there are measures in place that would prevent Trump from firing nuclear weapons, according to a source familiar with the call.
The move came two days after protesters incited by Trump’s false allegations of electoral fraud invaded the United States Capitol amid chaotic scenes that shocked the world and generated calls for the president to be removed from office.
While Pelosi’s letter highlights concern among lawmakers about what Trump might try to do during his remaining term in office, there are doubts about what Milley or anyone else could really do to prevent a president from using nuclear weapons.
“There is no legal way to do this. The president has unique and unrestricted authority to order the use of nuclear weapons without the need for a ‘second vote’,” said Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey, California. .
However, a US official speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that any use of nuclear weapons is a highly deliberative process.
Milley’s office said Pelosi initiated the call and Milley “answered his questions about the nuclear command authority process” without giving further details.
Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20. Trump said on Friday that he would not attend the inauguration, breaking with a long tradition in American presidential transitions.
Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, also said she had not heard back from Vice President Mike Pence about whether he would agree with the Democrats’ request to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office “for his incitement to insurrection and the danger he still poses. “
She said “we still hope to hear from you as soon as possible with a positive response”.
Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said that if Pence does not agree with the request, Democrats are prepared to accuse Trump a second time.
Impeachment articles are due to be presented on Monday, with a vote in the House as early as Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the planning and who has granted anonymity to discuss it.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AP)