The abrupt dismissal of acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf heightened growing tension in Washington before President-elect Joe Biden took office next week, with thousands of National Guard soldiers scheduled to be sent and the FBI warning of armed protests in all 50 state capitals.
As inaugural security preparations intensified, House Democrats accelerated their effort to force President Donald Trump’s ouster before his term officially ends, threatening to challenge him a second time, unless he resigns for encouraging the march that led to last Wednesday’s attack on the US Capitol.
Chad Wolf in September 2020.
Photographer: Greg Nash / AFP / Getty Images
But Vice President Mike Pence indicated that he would reject demands to immediately dismiss Trump through the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, when the two met in the Oval Office and agreed to work together for the remainder of the term, according to a senior government official. .
Investigations continued over the deadly Capitol riot, and Democrats in the House and Senate said that Republican colleagues who continued to support Trump’s false claims that he won the election even after the rebels left should be held responsible.
Republicans also found themselves facing another crisis, being shunned by once trusted corporate allies who were instrumental in financing their campaigns. At the same time, many of the president’s supporters across the country have not wavered in their belief that the 2020 elections had been stolen.
Previously: Republican Party lawmakers are hit by a negative reaction from the board over the proposal to annul the election
Earlier in the day, Wolf announced that “the evolving security landscape” had led to the decision to initiate security for the Jan. 13 opening. The efforts were originally scheduled to begin on January 19.
According to the FBI’s notice, protests in state capitals would begin on January 16 and at the United States Capitol on January 17, and continue until the day of inauguration on January 20, according to a law enforcement official.
Wolf said the decision came at the recommendation of Secret Service Director James Murray, adding that local, state and federal partners will work together during extended security operations.
The National Guard received approval to send up to 15,000 people to Washington before and during their inauguration, as police in the capital and across the country prepare for violence during the transition of power.
National Guard members outside the US Capitol building on January 11.
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger / Bloomberg
Read more: Trump and Pence Signal President will not resign or be removed
The lingering sense of anxiety about last week’s violence refused to dissipate as historians struggled to invent analogous events from the past and were asked what seemed unthinkable before – was the United States heading into a new civil war?
The sense of disruption did not abate when Wolf announced that he would resign after “recent events”, including court decisions that held that he had not been legally appointed to the post.
At least five federal judges ruled that Wolf had no authority as interim department secretary because his appointment in November 2019 was never confirmed by the Senate. Biden appointed Alejandro Mayorkas to be his secretary of Homeland Security.
Last week, after the turmoil, Wolf called for “the president and all elected officials to strongly condemn the violence that occurred yesterday”. He then said he would not resign before Biden took office on January 20.
His sudden departure adds to the confusion surrounding federal and state security preparations for the inauguration. The Department of Homeland Security plays a key role in ensuring the real inauguration and assisting state and local authorities during times of crisis.
He said he would be replaced by Pete Gaynor, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Wolf, a loyal to Trump, had been Kirstjen Nielsen’s chief of staff, the home security secretary forced by Trump in April 2019.
Read more: Democrats will open Trump’s impeachment on Wednesday unless Pence acts
The deployment of the National Guard is a significant increase over the 6,200 soldiers from six states and the District of Columbia who were already deployed after last week’s attack.
Ten thousand soldiers are expected to arrive by Saturday and will remain until January 20.
“We received requests for support from the Secret Service, Capitol Police and Park Police,” said Daniel Hokanson, head of the National Guard Office, on Monday. “Our troops were asked to support security, logistics, liaison and communication missions.”
The meeting between Trump and Pence, in the Oval Office, marked the first time they had spoken since supporters of the president entered the Capitol while the vice president presided over the formal statement of defeat in the re-election, according to two people familiar with the matter.
– With the help of Sophia Cai, Jennifer Jacobs and Billy House