Democrats will force vote tomorrow demanding Mike Pence use the 25th Amendment

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders formally accused Donald Trump of incitement to insurrection Monday morning as part of an attempt to remove him from office at breakneck speed.

Democrats introduced their impeachment resolution, first floated Friday, accusing Trump of ‘incitement of insurrection.’ Top Democrats say it has enough support to pass the House – and that they expect Republicans to sign on to it.

Annd they set up fast-moving floor votes that that will force House Republicans to cast votes both on President Trump’s fitness for office and on whether to remove him during his final days in power.

On Monday morning, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) sought to call up a resolution that would instruct Pence to convene cabinet members to declare Trump ‘incapable of executing the duties of his office’ under the terms of the 25th Amendment.

But he failed to get ‘unanimous consent’ when a House Republican objected. Pelosi says she will respond by bringing the 25th amendment resolution to the floor Tuesday – meaning Republicans will have to vote on the record on whether they believe Trump is fit for office.

The moves came on a day when:  

• Melania Trump issued a statement condemning the violence of last week but naming the dead rioters before the dead police then lashing out at ‘salacious gossip’ about her, an apparent reference to the revelation she continued with a photoshoot while the Capitol was descrated;
• Trump tried to give an impression of business as usual, giving a Medal of Freedom at the White House to Jim Jordan, the ‘freedom caucus’ Republican House member who was all-in on overturning the election results;
• The FBI warned of armed protests being planned in all 50 states between now and Joe Biden taking office;
• More MAGA rioters were swept up by police around the country, but questions mounted over the police failures which let them storm the Capitol;
• 10,000 National Guard were ordered to be in Washington D.C. for Biden’s inauguration in a sign of how concerned the FBI and other agencies are about more MAGA rioting; 
• Biden unveiled more of his plans for his inauguration, including laying a wreath at Arlington with former presidents Bush, Clinton and Obama in a very public demonstration that Trump is an outcast;
• The Supreme Court declined to fast-track Trump’s one-time attorney Sidney Powell’s ‘Kraken’ compendium of discredited voter fraud claims, while the New York Bar Association started investigating Rudy Giuliani over his ‘trial by combat’ speech to the MAGA rally before they desecrated the Capitol;
• Josh Hawley was told to hand back a $5,000 donation by Hallmark as big business, led by the biggest banks, JP Morgan and Bank of America, turned off the cash spigot to him and the so-called GOP ‘treason caucus.’ 

In Congress, Democrats escalated their rhetorical attack on Trump in their article of impeachment.

 The latest text of the impeachment resolution cites the post-Civil War 14th amendment, noting it ‘prohibits any person who has ‘engaged in insurrection or rebellion against’ the United States from ‘hold[ing] any office . . . under the United States’. 

In swift parliamentary action Monday, West Virginia Republican Rep. Alex Mooney immediately objected to the request to bring up the resolution. He posted a statement on Twitter explaining his reasons, which were entirely procedural and expressed opposition to bringing it up ‘without any debate on the floor,’ although he also said it could ‘imperil our Republic.’ 

Pelosi’s plan was to first try to bring up the resolution formally requesting Vice President Mike Pence invoke the 25th Amendment through the request, then follow up by bringing it before the full House.

The amendment provides either for the cabinet to meet to assess the president, or a special committee to be established by Congress – although Congress has never created such a body. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) began developing 25th amendment legislation months ago, and has examined the issue for years. 

The move puts pressure on Pence – who Trump publicly sought to strong-arm at the rally that proceeded the Capitol riots. Crowd members at the Capitol also screamed out calls to ‘hang’ Pence. Trump reportedly has not spoken with Pence since the stunning events of last week. 

The resolution would not carry the force of law, but it would be the first test for House Republicans, many of whom served with Pence, since a vote hours after the riot split the conference on whether to count votes where Trump has claimed fraud. 

A majority of Republicans voted not to count the ballots just hours after many of them had been hiding in undisclosed locations while the mob rampaged the Capitol building. 

The 25th Amendment vote also separates question of Trump’s fitness from some practical considerations about impeachment, since the move would take effect immediately. 

The backdrop for Monday’s move was a House chamber still scarred by the violence of last week. The violent clash that resulted in broken windows and the shooting of a Trump supporter took place just feet away, outside the Speaker’s lobby.

The weekend brought fresh video footage of vicious attacks on Capitol Police officers, new clips that revealed just how close the Senate chamber was to being overrun while in session, arrests of more alleged perpetrators across the country, and the tragic suicide of a Capitol Police officer who was there for the siege. 

Even if the House votes Wednesday to impeach, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote colleagues a trial would not likely begin until January 19th – missing the opportunity to remove Trump from office, and also complicating the start of President-elect Joe Biden’s tenure. 

Unlike through impeachment, if Pence and a majority of the cabinet officers were to vote that Trump was unfit for office, Pence would immediately become acting president for a period of days that would run out Trump’s term.  

The House Rules Committee is expected to meet Monday on setting the terms of debate for the impeachment vote that would likely come Wednesday.

The impeachment vote itself would also split Republicans. More than 200 Democrats have already gotten behind the effort.

Since Wednesday’s riots, a few prominent Republicans have called for Trump to resign or be subject to impeachment. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said Sunday that Trump ‘committed impeachable offenses.’ 

Pelosi, having conferenced with fellow Democrats by phone, and whose office was invaded by Trump supporters who damaged her office and stole property, is demanding swift action.   

‘We will act with urgency, because this president represents an imminent threat to both,’ she wrote Sunday. ‘The horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this president is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.’ 

The impeachment vote will once again put GOP leaders on record as well. Both Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise voted not to seat electors certified in states that Joe Biden won.

But McCarthy was reportedly on a call ‘screaming’ at Trump trying to get him to publicly demand his supporters leave the Capitol at a time when lawmakers and Pence were in physical danger.   

Retired Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake told CNN Monday those in party leadership positions in Congress ‘who went along with the president’s falsehoods … ought to face consequences in terms of their own reelection and obviously immediately in terms of leadership positions that they might hold. 

‘So i hope that the party has a reckoning here,’ he said. 

The effect of the procedural moves, even if they don’t result in Trump’s removal from office, will be to put House Republicans on record.

It could also flush out any House Republicans who have decided to break with Trump after opposing the first Democratic impeachment effort.

Meanwhile, some pro-Trump House Republicans are already are already telegraphing they would seek to use impeachment against Joe Biden. 

‘We never think about the consequences. It’s going to be like: Game on. Let’s impeach [Biden] 12 times in a week,’ one Democrat opposed to impeachment told Politico.