Mike Pence refused to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office
The vice president said he does not believe that "this action is beneficial to the nation or consistent with the Constitution" and, referring to the announced impeachment trial, called on Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to "avoid actions that further inflame passions."
The Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, rejected on Tuesday night to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Donald Trump from office.
In a letter to the Democratic leader in the Lower House, Nancy Pelosi, she said she does not believe that "this action is beneficial to the nation or consistent with the Constitution" and, referring to the announced impeachment, called on her to "avoid actions that inflame passions even more ”.
"I do not believe that that course of action is in the best interest of our nation or is consistent with our Constitution," Pence said in the letter to the leader of the House of Representatives, just before a vote in the Lower House of a resolution. demanding to appeal to that mechanism unprecedented in American history.
Under Section Four of that amendment, the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet can declare the president disqualified from running the country.
If the president were to oppose it and there was no agreement, Congress would settle the differences.
“Last week, I did not give in to the pressure to exercise power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election and now I will not give in to the House of Representatives effort to play political games at such a serious time in the life of our country, ”Pence said in the letter to Pelosi.
Pence's negative response guarantees that Democrats will submit to the Lower House consideration Wednesday the accusation of Trump of "inciting insurrection" in the seizure of the Capitol on January 6 by his supporters, in a second historic procedure of "impeachment Against the Republican president.
The vice president thus made a tacit allusion to Trump's pressure to assume powers that did not correspond to him under the Constitution and interfere with the session of both houses of Congress called to ratify the victory of Joe Biden in the elections last November.
Pence warned that using that amendment, created after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and in the midst of the Cold War to protect the government in cases of sudden illness of the president, "would set a terrible precedent."
"I urge you and all members of Congress to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment," added the second in command of the White House, and invited the leader of the Lower House to work together "to lower the temperature and unite our country ”as they prepare for the possession of Biden.
"I promise you that I will continue to do my part to work in good faith with the incoming Administration to ensure an orderly transition of power," he concluded.
This Tuesday, Trump rejected calls for his impeachment and assured that the 25th amendment "has no risk" for him but for President-elect Joe Biden.
“It will stalk your administration. As the expression says, be careful what you wish for, ”he said from Alamo, in the state of Texas. "The impeachment charade is the continuation of the most terrible witch hunt in history and is dangerous for the United States, especially at this sensitive time," added Trump, referring to the impeachment process that Democrats in the House of Representatives Representatives will open next Wednesday.
Hours before, he had described as "absolutely ridiculous" the process, in which he will be accused of having instigated the violence last Wednesday. The also Republican leader was asked if he contemplated the possibility of resigning, eight days after he ends his term, but he avoided responding directly and said: “I do not want more violence. Never violence ”.
Furthermore, when asked whether he bears part of the responsibility for having harangued the protesters to march to the Capitol, he said that his speech to his followers was "totally appropriate."
Before delivering his statement in the afternoon, Trump signed a plaque with his name on the wall and toured the area with border agents.
