WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — With an invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office looking less and less likely, Democrats on Capitol Hill are taking matters into their own hands.
Even with less than two weeks left in Trump’s term, Democrats say the country is not safe under his leadership and they are looking at impeaching him again.
“I don’t believe that President Trump should serve another day,” Sen. Dick Durbin said Friday. “When a president incites a mob to violence, as far as I’m concerned, he disqualifies himself from leading this nation.”
On Wednesday, a pro-Trump crowd stormed the U.S. Capitol, sending Durbin, his fellow senators and representatives fleeing in the midst of their session to certify the Electoral College results in favor of President-elect Joe Biden. Five people died during the riot, including three people who died of medical emergencies, a woman who was shot by Capitol Police and a Capitol Police officer.
Democrats are moving on articles of impeachment and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also called on the Pentagon’s top general to block Trump from accessing nuclear codes.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of congressional Republicans say another impeachment would not result in Trump getting removed.
“I think it’s a ridiculous discussion to have,” Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said. “The speaker knows this is not going to happen. You don’t have the time for it to happen.”
But Durbin said impeachment is on the table even after Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20.
“If he is convicted of impeachment, it would disqualify him from ever running again for federal office,” Durbin said. “I would not rule that out.”
Blunt argued that impeachment would only encourage already deep divisions in the country.
“Why would you inflame further what’s going on?” he wondered.
His fellow Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, so far the only Republican in the House to call for Trump’s removal, said it’s a matter of principle.
“While I do worry about that, the political consequences, I also couldn’t look myself in the mirror every day if I didn’t,” he said.
On Friday, Biden declined to say whether he supported impeachment, calling it “a judgment for the Congress to make.”
While Blunt said he doesn’t believe Trump intended for the rally of his supporters in D.C. to turn into a riot, he acknowledged that “when you start inviting people to Washington to march on the Capitol, you better know that there are potential consequences.”
