Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Calls On Trump To Be Immediately Removed From Office

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has joined the calls for US President Donald Trump to be immediately removed from the office.

In the fallout of the Capitol Hill riot yesterday, January 6, many lawmakers and other politicians have slammed the outgoing POTUS and demanded that he be stripped of his duties, accusing him of inciting the criminal behaviour of his supporters.

Now, Schumer has echoed the requests, writing in a statement that Vice President Mike Pence should invoke the 25th Amendment.

The violent, chaotic events at the Capitol saw the death of four people and at least 52 people arrested. As rioters continued to make their way into the building, and amid calls to ask his supporters to go home, Trump issued a video response in which he told them, ‘We love you, you’re very special.’ He’s since been banned from Twitter.

Schumer’s statement reads, ‘What happened at the US Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer.’

It adds, ‘The quickest and most effective way – and it can be done today – to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th Amendement. If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.’

The 25th Amendment would see the Vice President and the Cabinet declare Trump to be ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties’ of the Oval Office, with Pence then assuming the role of POTUS ahead of Biden’s inauguration on January 20.

The process is much quicker than impeachment, as witnessed earlier in Trump’s presidency. However, in addition to rampant 25th Amendment demands, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Abdullahi Omar earlier confirmed she was ‘drawing up Articles of Impeachment’.

She tweeted, ‘We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.’

If a majority of the House of Representatives approve the articles, a vote would then be taken to the Senate, where a two-thirds majority would be needed to convict and remove the president.

While Pence has yet to comment on any possible invocation of the 25th, small details on his Twitter indicate some level of distancing from Trump, whether it’s unfollowing him or changing his header image to a photo of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Pence also presided over the joint session in Congress to finalise Biden’s election win, rejecting objections against certifying votes in the process.

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