House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is accusing her Republican colleagues of “enabling” President Donald Trump’s “unhinged, unstable and deranged acts of sedition.”
On Monday, House Democrats sought to unanimously pass a resolution to urge Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office through unanimous consent.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) introduced a unanimous consent request to take up the resolution.
The 25th Amendment lays out a process for the Cabinet and vice president to determine that the president is not fit to serve in office and temporarily remove him.
It gives the president a chance to challenge the move. However, Congress can remove him permanently if two-thirds of the members of both chambers vote in favor of the move.
Unanimous consent would have allowed House Democrats to pass the resolution. The procedure requires that another lawmaker does not object. However, Republicans blocked the resolution.
In a statement after the attempt failed, Pelosi said, “On Wednesday, the President incited a deadly insurrection against America that targeted the very heart of our Democracy. The President represents an imminent threat to our Constitution, our Country, and the American people, and he must be removed from office immediately.”
“The House Republicans rejected this legislation to protect America, enabling the President’s unhinged, unstable and deranged acts of sedition to continue. Their complicity endangers America, erodes our Democracy, and it must end,” Pelosi added.
The House speaker said that the chamber will take up the resolution again “in regular order.” She continued, “We are further calling on the Vice President to respond within 24 hours after passage.”
Still, she signaled the House is poised to move forward with its push to impeach Trump if Pence and the Cabinet do not invoke the 25th Amendment.
Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), who objected to the measure, said in a statement, “Speaker Pelosi should not attempt to adopt a resolution of this magnitude without any debate on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. It is wrong to have sent members of Congress home and then try to adopt without any debate a precedent-setting resolution that could imperil our Republic.”
“The U.S. House must never adopt a resolution that demands the removal of a duly elected president, without any hearings, debate or recorded votes,” he added.
