Mike Pence rejects constitutional move to remove Trump

US Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday night he will not remove President Donald Trump from office, shortly before a House vote to call on him and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, CNBC reports.

The Democratic-held chamber will vote Tuesday night to call on the executive branch to push Trump out of the White House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, had pressed Pence on whether he would remove the president. She said that if the vice president did not act, the chamber would vote Wednesday to make Trump the first president ever impeached twice.

“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Pence wrote in a letter to Pelosi, which did not mention Trump’s name.

The House is expected to pass the 25th Amendment measure, which does not compel Pence and Cabinet secretaries to take action. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, tried to approve the resolution by unanimous consent on Monday. Republican representative Alex Mooney, blocked it.

The Democrats, who on Monday introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, say they have enough votes to charge the president with high crimes and misdemeanors. It is unclear how many Republicans will join the party in voting to impeach Trump.

The insurrection at the legislature, which left five people including a Capitol police officer dead, sparked a rush to hold Trump accountable with only a few days remaining in his term. Supporters of his removal say leaving the president in office even until President-elect Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration poses too much risk.

Some members of both parties have said they prefer censuring the president, in part because the Senate may not have enough time to remove Trump even if the House sends articles across the Capitol as soon as possible. But those who back impeachment argue a symbolic vote will not hold Trump to account for his role in the riot that threatened lawmakers’ lives and disrupted their count of Biden’s election victory — a formal step in the peaceful transfer of power.