Aftermath of a coup attempt - Part 4 /Calls for Trump's (and some Republicans') ouster

The Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee called Thursday for removing President Trump from office a day after pro-Trump rioters breached the Capitol.

  The Hill

As he should.

“President Trump incited & encouraged this riot,” Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) tweeted. “He & his enablers are responsible for the despicable attack at the Capitol. VP Pence and the Cabinet should invoke the 25th amendment to remove Trump, otherwise Senate Republicans must work with the House to impeach & remove him.”

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Calls for Trump’s removal in the aftermath have mostly come from Democrats, but Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), an Air Force veteran who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Thursday became the first Republican lawmaker to call for invoking the 25th Amendment.

Sadly, it won't happen.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) on Thursday became the highest-ranking Democrat to throw his support behind removing Trump from office with roughly two weeks left in his administration. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has so far not weighed in on using the 25th Amendment.

I wouldn't expect her to.

Under the 25th Amendment, a majority of Cabinet officials plus Vice President Pence would have to declare to Congress that Trump is unable to fulfill his duties as president in order to remove him from office.

A source confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday night that administration officials have started discussing the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.

Scchumer's statement:

“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer," Schumer said in a statement.

“The quickest and most effective way - it can be done today - to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment. If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president," he added.

  

Yes.

Democratic lawmakers, outside groups and even GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) have thrown their support behind the idea.

Why only 17?

Well, he didn't just "call for" it.  He screamed for it.

UPDATE:

I didn't know there was such a thing as impeachment managers.

It is important to state clearly what happened yesterday in the nation’s capital. A violent mob, stoked by the president of the United States, directly attacked two fundamental foundations of the American republic—the election of a new president and the peaceful transfer of power.

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Our nation has not seen a hostile takeover of the Capitol of this scale or duration since the British Army burned much of Washington during the War of 1812. Not even the Confederacy could achieve what Americans witnessed today.

  The Dispatch

Which surely makes the insurrectionists proud and determined to go further.

This attack wasn’t just foreseeable, it was foreseen. At The Dispatch, we have been warning about the possibility of serious political violence for months.

Millions of us have.

Cowed by the president and with their eyes fixed on their own political futures, Republican members of Congress have picked up this seditious torch, including trained lawyers who know exactly how they’re violating the Constitution yet press on anyway. Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana has been especially pernicious. He once performed valuable work defending religious liberty with the Alliance Defending Freedom. Now he deploys his legal skills to rally GOP members of the House to attack the American republic.

Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz in the Senate have proved themselves unfit to serve during this crisis. Both men know the Constitution. Both men know that Trump’s legal claims have failed at every level of the American court system, including at the Supreme Court of the United States. Yet they have pressed on with their futile challenges anyway, proudly proclaiming their defiance in conservative media outlets that have lost their way.

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[E]ven with bloodshed in the halls of the Capitol and Congress itself under attack—the president still stoked rage and division. He tweeted his anger at Vice President Mike Pence for failing to hand him the election. Even when he called for calm and asked rioters to go home, he repeated his false claims about a stolen election. In one of the lowest moments of a very dark day, he told the rioters who stormed the Capitol, “We love you.” “You’re very special,” he said.

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Trump is dangerous to the peace and security of the American nation. Indeed, he is exactly the kind of man the founders of the nation worried about when they gave Congress the power to impeach and remove the nation’s chief executive.

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He is riding the storm. He is attempting to direct the whirlwind. And that is why he must be impeached, convicted, and removed from office immediately.

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Impeachment is not merely a punitive act for past offenses—though Trump richly deserves his punishment—it is a protective measure to guard against further danger. He still possesses immense power. He can still attempt to direct the energies and efforts of the American military or law enforcement to preserve his power. And if he runs for president again, he can drag this country through yet another violent and divisive drama, with unforeseen consequences for the nation.

Can and will.

His behavior remains alarming. He continues to insist that the election was stolen. He was pleased by the disturbance at the Capitol. He banned Vice President Pence’s chief of staff from the White House grounds as retribution for Pence’s alleged disloyalty. A statement from the acting secretary of defense noted that he’d spoken to Pence—not Trump—about restoring order to the besieged Capitol.

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Trump alone is a threat to the stability of the country. But he is not alone. External threats remain and the president, so addled and unhinged, is in no position to deal with them should any exigencies arise.

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Impeachment and removal with less than two weeks to go in this presidency may seem like a waste of time and energy. And the president, through a spokesman, has committed to an orderly transfer of power. But we think it would be an important act of civic hygiene, sending an important message to future would-be Trumps as well as to the rest of the world. Our image as a shining example of democracy and the rule of law has been covered in filth since the election. Republicans especially have an obligation to make a clear break with this man and this behavior for the good of the country, their historic reputations, and for the viability of a Grand Old Party that has shed any claim to grandness under this president.

Maintaining the honor and integrity of the Party of Lincoln has fallen on too few hands these last four years. Sens. Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse. and Pat Toomey, Reps. Liz Cheney, Adam Kinziger, Mike Gallagher, and others haven’t always spoken out as much as some Trump critics would like, but they have spoken up when it has mattered most, specifically right now. Discarding this president and presidency at the finish line isn’t ideal, and many will say “too little, too late.” But given the stakes, we say, better late than never.

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These measures are difficult. They require political courage. Because they require courage, they may be unlikely. But how much violence and chaos must our nation endure before we understand that cowardice has a cost? Trump has abused his office. He has violated the public trust. And now he has incited a violent attack on the Capitol and Congress. He must be removed.