Re-impeach? 25th Amendment? Various ideas floated to end the Trump era now

A growing constellation of lawmakers, officials and even trade groups want to see President Donald Trump removed from office after the U.S. 

Capitol was temporarily taken over by his supporters Wednesday. A big question was the method of the 45th president’s exit. 

 Some lawmakers and governors said Trump, impeached but not convicted once already, should be impeached again before serving out the remaining 14 days of his term. 

 Others have appealed to Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump cabinet to invoke for the first time the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, meant to remove a president who is no longer able to perform the duties of his job. 

“Donald Trump is a danger to our democracy. I continue to support his impeachment and removal from office, and am looking carefully at new articles of impeachment being drafted and offered by my colleagues,” said Rep. Donald Beyer, a Virginia Democrat, late Wednesday. 

 Beyer also voice support for using the 25th Amendment as a faster method of removal. 

 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a high-profile New York Democrat beginning her second term, made her feelings known by a one-word Tweet: “Impeach.” 

 CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan said on air today: ‘This is not news we deliver lightly. I’m talking about actual members of the Cabinet.’

 It is understood nothing formal has yet been presented to vice-president Mike Pence. It comes after Pence yesterday confirmed his plans to defy president Trump and certify Joe Biden’s election win. He sent a letter to members of the Congress saying it would be ‘antithetical’ to the ‘design’ of the US Constitution for him to overturn Biden’s win. Pence has since been called upon to start the process of removing Trump from office.

 The Democratic coalition said: ‘Donald Trump needs to be removed from office immediately.’ 

Several politicians and public bodies claimed the president’s behaviour prior to the violence in the Capitol justifies his removal US vice-president Mike Pence has been called upon to start the process of removing Trump from office Democrat Representative Ted Lieu tweeted Pence saying: ‘You need to start the 25th Amendment. Donald Trump is detached from reality.’ 

And a National Association of Manufacturers spokesman said: ‘This is not law and order. This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and should be treated as such. 

‘The outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy… ‘Vice President Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy.’

 The 25th Amendment of the US Constitution provides for a sitting president to be removed from office by his own team should he be deemed unfit for office.

It would require Pence and a majority of other senior White House staffers to agree Trump is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office’, and would see the vice-president take over. Security forces take measures at the entrance of US Capitol after president Donald Trump’s supporters breached the US Capitol security in Washington DC Ratified in 1967, the amendment created a law for designating a head of state if the president dies, resigns or is unable to carry out duties. 

The fourth section of the amendment, removing a president against his will if he is deemed unfit for office, has never been invoked, yet it has been repeatedly mentioned during Trump’s presidency. Representatives are also in the process of beginning impeachment proceedings to try and remove Trump over Wednesday’s riots. 

Joe Biden is due to be inaugurated on January 20 but Wednesday’s riots kicked off after president Trump appeared at a Save America protest to claim the election had been stolen from him.

 It resulted in Trump supporter and air force veteran Ashli Babbit being killed amid the chaotic scenes in Washington DC.