There are growing calls in the United States for the ouster of President Donald Trump after he failed to condemn his supporters for storming the U.S. Capitol Building as members met to test to make Joe Biden the next president of the country.
The ABC News broadcast network, citing several sources with direct knowledge of the movement, said some Trump cabinet members were debating a unique move to attack Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the constitution, with that several Democratic members of Congress have urged Vice President Mike Pence to lead the accusation in saying that Trump is “unfit” to remain president.
“President Trump has shown that he is not mentally strong and is not yet able to process and accept the results of the 2020 election,” he wrote in a letter signed by all Democratic members of the Review Committee. House.
“President Trump has repeatedly shown his unwillingness to defend our democracy and fulfill the duties of office.”
NEW: I’m sending a letter by @RepTedLieu and our colleagues on the House Review Committee, calling on Vice President Pence to call the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office following events today. pic.twitter.com/5VK8DLTLn4
– David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) 7 January 2021
The editorial board of the Washington Post newspaper also called for Trump’s removal, saying, “every second he holds the great powers of sovereignty is a threat to public order and national security.”
The Miami Herald newspaper commented: “His remarks were nothing more than a dog whistle for his sad situation. This was a full-necked war cry, ”said the editorial.
“With his non-American words and his anti-democratic actions, Trump led this revolution just as much as he would storm the Capitol itself.”
Trump calls protesters ‘very special’
The attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s armed supporters earlier Wednesday left four people dead and came when the House of Representatives and Senate called to confirm the outcome of the primary election two weeks before the election. President Joe Biden was sworn in on January 20th.
The chaotic scenes followed a pro-Trump rally outside the White House when the outgoing president, who refused to promise a peaceful transfer of power, confronted thousands of supporters and again claiming that the election was stolen from him.
Trump later called on his supporters to go home, but also praised them as “very special,” while acknowledging his “love” for them.
Some members of the U.S. Congress have also criticized Trump’s action in supporting the protesters as ‘seditious’. [Amanda Voisard/Pool/Getty Images/AFP]
Jotaka Eaddy, political adviser and founder of Full Circle Strategies, said Trump’s actions have raised big questions about his state of mind, and that everything should be on the table right now to prevent more damage the country ‘s democratic institutions even if it has only two weeks left in office.
“It has incited violence, and created a platform and a sense of violence,” she told Al Jazeera.
Two ways to get rid of Trump
There are two ways to oust a president: Impeachment and the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In each case, Vice President Pence would take over until Biden took office on Jan. 20.
But with just a few days left before that date, it would be impossible to complete an impeachment, which has called for the 25th Amendment to be proclaimed.
Previously, Trump was introduced but not removed from the presidency.
What is the purpose of the 25th Amendment?
The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967 and adopted following the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963, deals with primary continuity and disability.
It was previously used by presidents who had to relinquish power for a period of time for health reasons.
In 2002, President George W Bush was the first to use Section 3 of the amendment to temporarily transfer power to Vice President Dick Cheney while Bush underwent colonoscopy and was e fo anesthetic. Bush shifted power for some time again five years later when he had another colonoscopy.
In 2002, President George W Bush was the first to use Section 3 of the 25th Amendment to temporarily transfer power to Vice President Dick Cheney while Bush was anesthetized for colonoscopy. [File: Stan Honda/AFP]
The 25th Amendment was not called after the assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and although the one-time film star made a temporary transfer power to Vice President George HW Bush while while undergoing surgery to remove a polyp from his colon in 1985, he said at the time that it was not formally introducing the 25th Modification.
Reagan said that while he was “aware” of the change, he did not believe “the planners of this change intended to implement it in situations like the one immediately”. Bush served as president for eight hours according to a book about the change by John D Feerick.
Section 4
Much of the attention on the 25th Amendment to Trump has focused on Section 4 because it deals with situations where a president cannot do the job but does not resign until voluntary.
Under Section 4, Vice President Pence and the majority of Trump’s cabinet had to state that Trump was incapable of fulfilling and removing the presidency duties.
Under the rules, Trump could then, at any time, declare that he was no longer disabled and regain his position unless Pence and a majority of the cabinet objected to the claim within four day.
If the cabinet is in dispute over the presidential declaration, Congress decides the issue. If both chambers decide by a two-thirds majority that Trump is incompetent, Pence would continue to fulfill the presidency duties.
According to an ABC News report, it is not yet clear how long the cabinet debate on the proposal will last.
Frank Bowman, a constitutional scholar at the University of Missouri, says the history of the 25th Amendment makes it clear that it was intended for situations where a president is incompetent and unable to serve, such as illness. physical or mental.
He says there is little in the way that change will be called for because Pence would be willing to do so and because there are strong arguments that Trump is not as incompetent as unfit for office.
For his part, political analyst Eric Ham said Congress needs to “respond” to Trump’s action to protect American democracy, which he said is increasingly vulnerable.