Some WI lawmakers call for 25th Amendment to be invoked
MILWAUKEE - President Donald Trump said he is committed to the peaceful transition of power on Jan. 20. But some lawmakers are calling for his removal from office before then.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) says 13 more days of President Trump in office is too long.
Moore has joined in the calls urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment. Other lawmakers think the next 13 days should have a different focus.
The president's initial response to Wednesday's breach of the U.S. Capitol by a group of his supporters was blocked by social media companies. It's a set of circumstances that would have been hard to imagine when the 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967.
"We’re in a much different situation than what they anticipated with Donald Trump in his last couple of weeks in office," Paul Nolette said.
Paul Nolette
A professor of political science at Marquette University, Nolette said it is unprecedented for the 25th Amendment to be brought up in this context.
"This potential use of the 25th Amendment just adds to the fuel to this crazy situation that we’re in, in American politics," Nolette said.
The 25th Amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of cabinet members to deem a president unfit.
Thursday afternoon, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, if the 25th Amendment is not invoked, Congress "may" move toward impeachment.
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Early Thursday evening, the president posted a video committing himself to a peaceful transition.
Some lawmakers are still calling for his removal. Thirty Wisconsin Legislative Democrats have urged Vice President Pence to remove President Trump from office after his comments on the chaos at the U.S. Capitol.
In a statement, Moore said: "America can't wait. Trump must be removed now."
Others want to focus on Jan. 20.
U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican, said in a statement:
"More than anything our country needs reconciliation. The best, most immediate way we can do so is by repeatedly and thoroughly endorsing the peaceful transition of power, and I am glad that President Trump did that in his video statement tonight. The transition--not the removal of the president---should be our priority."
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