After a Democratic caucus meeting earlier in the afternoon, Pelosi said the House would keep all options open, including legislation to create a commission under the 25th Amendment. The constitutional amendment, which, in addition to impeachment proceedings, could recommend Mr. Trump’s resignation. According to Democratic sources, no final decisions have yet been made on the indictment process.
The members of the meeting expect the chairman to resign immediately. But if that is not the case, I have asked the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy to be prepared to pass the 25th amendment. The amendment and motion to impeach MP Jamie Raskin to move forward, Pelosi said. Consequently, the House will retain all options – including the 25th Amendment. Constitutional amendment, a motion to impeach, or a privileged decision to impeach.
OPPORTUNITIES TO LIVE: The effects of the Capitol uprising are compounded by Trump’s reaction.
But Democrats realize they have little time to force Trump out of office, and moving forward with an impeachment trial could force the Senate to hold an impeachment trial in the early days of the new Biden administration, a major distraction from the new president’s ambitious new agenda.
Pelosi told her caucus Friday afternoon by phone that she would prefer that Trump resign or that VP Mike Pence and the cabinet move to the 25th Amendment. But she made clear that if that didn’t happen, indictment would be a viable option, noting that there are more supporters of Trump’s indictment in the House Democratic caucus today than in 2019, when Trump was first indicted, according to multiple sources on appeal.
According to Pelosi, the president has decided to become a rebel, according to one source. The topic of this meeting is how to proceed.
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Pelosi began the call solemnly and emotionally about the events of the past 72 hours. She gave no indication of the timing or details of possible indictment articles, but clarified that the House of Representatives has the authority to file an indictment even if Mr. Trump’s deadline is less than two weeks. Democrats also debated Ruskin’s legislation to create a commission through the 25th District of Congress. Constitutional amendment, an option that can be used as an alternative to an indictment.
Pelosi talks to Biden
In a letter Friday, Pelosi told lawmakers that if Trump does not pass the 25th Amendment, they will have to wait. The amendment was deleted, the meeting continued.
A troubling question is whether President-elect Joe Biden will support the charges against Trump, as he has promised to try to unite the country when he takes office later this month. Asked about the procedure for impeaching the House, Biden responded on Friday that it was a decision by Congress.
Pelosi told her caucus that she plans to speak with Biden on Friday afternoon, according to two sources who responded to the call.
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An impeachment would require the Senate to review the articles of impeachment in a court of law at the same time Biden was sworn in, and he would need Senate approval of his cabinet. Since Republicans are unlikely to allow a trial before the 20th Circuit Court of Appeals. In January, Senate Democrats can file suit once they have a formal majority.
Some caution was exercised regarding the request to initiate impeachment proceedings so quickly. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who led the 2019 impeachment investigation, explained to his caucus the reality of the current impeachment and the potential pitfalls. His concerns: the precedent of the expedited impeachment process and the perception that House Democrats were trying to protect Biden by trying to prevent Trump from running again, multiple sources at the appeal said.
Schiff also noted that the Senate test could be awkward for Biden’s administration, as the new president tries to unify the country and focus on the Covid 19 pandemic. A trial after Trump’s departure, Schiff said, would pose a challenge to the ambassador because Democrats now argue he is an imminent threat to the republic. But Mr. Schiff stated that it would still be considered constitutional.
However, Mr. Schiff stated Friday that he supported Mr. Trump’s resignation.
Congress should take steps to initiate impeachment proceedings, because that is the only tool we have fully within our power to remove a president who has so clearly and so often violated the Constitution and put our nation in grave danger, Schiff said in a statement Friday night.
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Kevin McCarthy, the minority House leader, warned Democrats against impeachment proceedings and said he plans to discuss the issue with Biden on Friday.
The California Republican said criticizing the president for having only 12 days left will only further divide our country. I have been in contact with President-elect Biden today and I plan to talk to him about how we need to work together to lower the temperature and unite the country to solve the problems facing America.
In a statement on Friday, the White House asked the House not to proceed with the indictment. As President Trump said yesterday, this is a time of healing and unity for a united nation. A politically motivated lawsuit against the president with 12 days left in his term will only further divide our great country, said Deputy Press Secretary Judd Dear.
A procedure different from the previous charge
The proposed process will not resemble the 2019 process. It would be quick: no investigation and weeks of hearings. The most likely scenario is for a member to submit a preferred resolution to the Assembly and propose it during the session. A simple majority is enough to remove the president from office. That would make Trump the first president to be impeached twice.
It is not about removing him from office, which would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate.
House Judiciary Committee helps consult on Democratic impeachment resolution — Reps. David Cicilline, Ruskin and Ted Lieu – to prepare for an early vote on a possible impeachment in the House next week, according to three sources.
According to some sources, aides are helping to amend and refine the indictment resolution, including an article on the charges that sparked a Capitol uprising. The impeachment motion, first published on Thursday, also includes Trump’s call for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, though some moderates are calling for the impeachment to be kept as simple as possible so as not to be distracted by Wednesday’s events.
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Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, has proposed an alternative to impeachment: Congress could appoint a committee, which would then vote by a majority to remove Trump. If Pence agrees, he will be fired. But he acknowledged that this is unlikely to happen in the time remaining and that Pence is unlikely to move forward, although there has been talk of passing such a bill to set up a committee to put pressure on Trump.
The impeachment motion now has more than 130 co-sponsors, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, which is another sign of growing momentum. Nadler said on Thursday that he was in favor of bypassing his committee so that the resolution of the charge could be presented directly to the Assembly.
Jim Clyburn, the leader of House 3, told reporters by phone on Friday that he thinks the House needs to take Trump’s side. Because he always wants to do things he’s never done before, he’ll never face charges twice, Clyburn said. Then let’s sue him and give him what he wants.
Quick view
Whatever the Democrats do, it goes fast. The members were not here two days ago. The events of Wednesday, the images shown on the television screens, the stories of what was happening throughout the Capitol complex, and the way the president handled it all before and after, gave the members a sense that something had to be done now.
Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, assistant to the Speaker of the House, told CNN’s John Berman on Good Friday that she could face charges as early as the middle of next week. She then tweeted that Democrats are actively working to find the shortest possible time to vote.
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More than 60 Democrats, led by representatives. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Tom Malinowski of New Jersey sent a letter Friday to Democratic leaders urging them to reconvene after Wednesday’s Capitol collapse and work to impeach Trump.
We call on the House of Representatives to immediately discuss the attack on our democracy that we will see on the sixth day. January lived, Democrats write. We might consider whether President Trump should face a vote of no confidence or impeachment for inciting a violent attack on the U.S. Congress, as well as Congressman Ruskin’s suggestion that Congress hold a panel after the 25th Amendment. The constitutional amendment designates the persons to determine whether the president is capable of exercising the powers and duties of his office.
So far, House Republicans have rejected calls for Democratic impeachment. Don Bacon, a spokesman for the district that Biden won in 2020, said Thursday on CNN that Trump is committed to a peaceful transition of power, noting that Biden’s inauguration is coming soon.
All this talk about charges and the 25th Amendment… The constitutional amendment only exacerbates our differences and pours gas on the fire, Bacon said. What we need now is less hyper-partisanship and an end to efforts that will only further divide the American people.
What’s going on in Senate?
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not raised the prospect of impeachment. But since the House of Representatives will likely be a few days away from Trump’s presidency, McConnell will likely just expire.
At this point, the government is frustrated, bewildered by Trump. CNN reported that McCarthy had a shouting match with Trump on Wednesday as rebels took control of the Capitol building. But McConnell likes to avoid arguments between the parties and forcing members to vote for impeachment when Trump’s presidency is just days away would not be a good way to keep his members together.
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Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, was the first Republican in the Senate to demand Trump’s resignation on Friday.
I want him to resign. I want him gone. It’s already done enough damage, Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News.
Senator Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican who was one of the first to criticize Trump’s rhetoric, told CBS Morning News he would review all of the allegations in the House.
The House of Representatives, if they meet and have a trial, I will certainly look at all the clauses they can propose because, as I have told you before, I think the president has disregarded his oath of office, Mr. Sasse said on Friday.
This story was updated on Friday with additional events.
CNN’s Dana Bash, Barbara Starr, Alex Rogers, Rachel Gianfaza and Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.
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