Pence rejects call to remove Trump from power through 25th Amendment
Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday he would not bow to congressional pressure to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office, after remaining quiet for days on whether he would take the constitutional action after the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he also acknowledged the pressure from Trump to somehow alter the outcome of the Electoral College vote that affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election,” Pence wrote to Pelosi, “and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation.”
The House of Representatives was voting on a resolution asking Pence to invoke Section 4 of the amendment — which allows the majority of the Cabinet to determine that the president is no longer fit to serve in office. The resolution was adopted along largely party lines, by a final vote of 223-205.
“I do not believe such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with the Constitution,” Pence wrote.
Pence had been presiding over the Electoral College certification on Jan. 6 when a violent mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol building and rampaged through hallways and offices, reaching the House and Senate chambers. Five people died.
Later that night after the rioters were gone, Pence and a bipartisan majority in Congress returned to certify the Electoral College vote.
Pence plans to attend Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, and in his letter said his full attention is now on ensuring an “orderly transition of power.” Trump has said he will not attend.
Despite efforts by some members of the Cabinet to discuss the matter of the 25th Amendment in recent days, a senior administration official said that Pence has rebuffed those overtures.
The vice president met with Trump at the White House on Monday, speaking for the first time with the president since the violence at the Capitol had occurred. Trump had not reached out to the vice president despite calls among the mob for Pence’s hanging.
The resolution states that, absent Pence invoking the 25th Amendment, the House will proceed with a vote to impeach Trump for a second time on Wednesday over an incitement to violence against the government.
Pence’s letter made no mention of Trump, or of the coming vote to impeach him.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Pence rejects call to remove Trump from power through 25th Amendment."
