House set to vote on resolution calling on Pence to invoke 25th Amendment

WASHINGTON — The House is set to vote on a resolution Tuesday that calls on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office.

The measure says Pence should “convene and mobilize” Trump’s Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to declare the president “incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President.” The resolution is sponsored by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.

The House is expected to vote on it around 10:30 p.m. ET, according to a schedule released by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

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Spurred on by last Wednesday’s events when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, the six-page resolution says that the mob “threatened the safety and lives of the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the President pro tempore of the Senate, the first three individuals in the line of succession to the presidency, as the rioters were recorded chanting ‘Hang Mike Pence’ and ‘Where’s Nancy’ when Trump tweeted to his supporters that ‘”Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country.”

The measure lays out evidence that Trump incited his supporters to commit violence at the Capitol and says that the president has “demonstrated repeatedly, continuously and spectacularly his absolute inability to discharge the most basic and fundamental powers and duties of his office.” It says that Trump didn’t respect the results of the 2020 presidential election, isn’t respecting the peaceful transfer of power, isn’t upholding the Constitution and has failed to protect Americans.

Pence, however, is unlikely to remove Trump from office. As of Monday morning, multiple sources said that Pence was not inclined to sign on to invoking the 25th Amendment, and is instead waiting to run out the clock so he can make it to January 20 “in one piece.”

The vice president met with Trump in the Oval Office Monday evening, a senior administration official said, which was their first contact since the attack on the Capitol. The official said that they had a good conversation, reflecting on the last four years, and that they both said that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol do not represent America.

Pence is leading a Covid-19-related video conference with governors Tuesday while Trump is planning to travel to Alamo, Texas, to visit part of the border wall.

Assuming that Pence will ignore the House’s request, the House is planning to vote Wednesday on an article of impeachment that would charge Trump with “incitement of insurrection” in urging his supporters to march to the Capitol last week and fight. The Senate would then hold a trial to decide whether to convict Trump and potentially eliminate his ability to run for office again.