Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
13-01-2021
WASHINGTON/ HOUSTON: The US Vice President has rejected the call from Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats to invoke the amendment and remove President Donald Trump from office.
US Vice President Mike Pence said in a letter to Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday that he would not invoke the 25th amendment.
The House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, had rushed through legislation to call on the vice president to use the powers in the amendment to remove Donal Trump from power in the wake of the violent attack on the Capitol building on January 6.
“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Pence said in his letter.
He argued that removing Trump with just eight days left of his term in office would not be “in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution.”
He also defended his decision by pointing out that he had also refused the president’s demands that he overturn the official confirmation of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
“Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my 
constitutional authority and I will not yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation,” he added.
The vice president also vowed to work together with the incoming Biden administration to “ensure an orderly transition of power.”
Democrats had vowed to impeach President Trump if he was not removed from office. They began proceeding on Monday and may be voted on by Wednesday.
Several Republican representatives have come out against Trump following the violence carried out by his supporters.
Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was reportedly pleased by Democrats’ efforts to impeach the president, believing that it would make it easier to purge him from the party, the New York Times said on Tuesday
In an effort to burnish his legacy, President Donald Trump toured a section of newly constructed wall along the US-Mexico border Tuesday, but also defiantly criticized legislators’ efforts to derail his presidency in its final days.
During his remarks in Alamo, Texas, Trump said that discussion of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office early “is of zero risk to me but will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration”.
Without detailing what the repercussions may be, Trump added, “As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for.”
It is not completely clear what Trump is threatening, however, in October when House Democrats introduced a 25th Amendment-related bill, Trump tweeted a baseless theory that the impetus for that bill was Biden-centric.
“Crazy Nancy Pelosi is looking at the 25th Amendment in order to replace Joe Biden with Kamala Harris. The Dems want that to happen fast because Sleepy Joe is out of it!!!” Trump tweeted on October 9.
Trump also railed Tuesday about House Democrats’ effort to move forward on 
impeachment, calling it a “hoax” and “a continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch hunt in the history of our country and is causing tremendous anger, and division and pain. Far greater than most people will ever understand which is very dangerous for the USA, especially at this very tender time.”
The 25th Amendment of the US Constitution lays out a procedure in which the vice president and the president’s cabinet get together to strip the president’s power in the event he or she is unable to no longer perform their duties. Its intent was to set up a process in case a president became incapacitated and could no longer “discharge their powers”, but some have 
made the argument that it can be used to remove a rogue president, though that has not been tested in the courts.
Vice President Mike Pence has stated he would not take part in an effort to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump, although the US House is attempting to pressure him by passing a bill later Tuesday urging him to do so.
If their effort fails to convince Pence, the House will move forward on Wednesday with a vote on articles of impeachment, which accuse the president of inciting a pro-Trump mob to storm the US Capitol last 
Wednesday.
Trump addressed the riot Tuesday saying the “mob … trashed the halls of government.”
“As I have consistently said throughout my administration, we believe in respecting America’s history and traditions, not tearing them down. We believe in the rule of law, not in violence or rioting.
Now is the time for our nation to heal and it’s time for peace and calm,” Trump continued. ‘We’re a nation of law and we’re a nation of order. What we must do to uphold the rule of law in America.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
