This is the quickest way to impeach Trump (again) and remove him from power

Are Republicans the party of violent fascist insurrection or not? Is Trump their king forever, or do they want to move on?

Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi read the final certification of Electoral College votes cast in November’s presidential election during a joint session of Congress, after working through the night, at the Capitol on 7 January 2021 in Washington, DC (J Scott Applewhite – Pool/Getty Images)

There are less than two weeks left in Donald Trump’s term. Joe Biden will replace him as president on January 20. Is it worth impeaching him and removing him from office with that little time left?

Many Congressional Democrats, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, believe the answer is “yes”. And they are correct. Trump’s increasingly desperate, irresponsible, and frankly seditious behavior is a threat to democracy and to the lives and safety of Americans. More, removing him from office now sends a message to him and his followers that open sedition has consequences. Refusing to hold Trump accountable signals to his violent, authoritarian followers, and to Trump himself, that they can attack democracy with impunity. Refusing to impeach now could have dire consequences on the immediate and long-term future.

As long as Trump is in office, he retains a great deal of power to do harm. His claims that the election was stolen have encouraged Wednesday’s attack on the US Capitol as well as demonstrations at statehouses across the country, and those may well continue. He’s also egged on other Republican lawmakers to cosign his baseless claims about election fraud. One of his chief sycophants, Florida House representative Matt Gaetz, shamelessly lied yesterday on the floor of Congress, claiming without evidence that the insurrection was the work of left-wing agitators disguised as Trump supporters.

This dangerous rhetoric is designed to justify more attacks and shield perpetrators from prosecution and blame. It is easy to imagine Trump himself picking up these arguments, or calling even more explicitly for violence as the week goes on and he becomes more desperate. He may also try to pardon his supporters who engage in violence as long as he retains power. The inauguration itself will be a particular flashpoint, and Trump supporters are almost certainly already plotting to disrupt it with violence. Nor will the threat from Trump necessarily end after the inauguration. Trump retains a large following, and he’s reportedly said he may run for the Republican nomination again in 2024.

Removing Trump, and delegitimizing him, then, is an imperative. That’s why Schumer called for his removal earlier today. “The quickest and most effective way — it can be done today — to remove this president from office would be for the vice president to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment,” Schumer suggested. “If the vice president and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.”

The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office, and relieve him from power. The president could dispute the removal and appeal to Congress, but by the time the process worked itself out, Trump’s term would be over.

The advantage of the 25th Amendment is that it could, as Schumer says, be invoked immediately. It’s quick. The disadvantage is that it’s never been used before, and the process is relatively opaque. It’s not clear whether Trump’s own Cabinet would agree to it. It’s also generally seen as a process meant to be put in place if the president is unwell or physically unable to perform duties. Depending on how Pence and the Cabinet framed the removal, it might or might not be a strong rebuke of Trump’s deliberate efforts to seize power and destroy our democracy.

Impeachment, on the other hand, is designed to clearly list a president’s offenses, and hold him accountable for them. Impeachment could also bar him from office permanently. Impeachment would be a strong, powerful rebuke, with real consequences for Trump’s inflammatory actions. Given the uncertainty of the 25th Amendment outcomes, there’s good reason for Congress to pursue it as quickly as possible.

And in fact there is a lot of support for pursuing impeachment in the House, where the process begins. Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar started to draw up articles yesterday. David Nir, the political director at DailyKos, has been tabulating Representatives who have come out in support of the proposal; he’s already counted 61 as of this writing, with more coming in practically every hour. Speaker Pelosi has also said she wants to move forward with impeachment if the vice president and the Cabinet don’t remove the President.

Impeachment in the House requires only a majority, and it’s likely that Democrats in the chamber could pass it. Removal requires a 2/3 vote in the Senate, which means it would need somewhere around 19 Republicans to vote for it, presuming unanimous Democratic support.

That would be difficult, but it’s far from clear it’s impossible. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell yesterday rebuked Trump for his “sweeping conspiracy theories” and refusal to acknowledge the election results. Many Republican Senators were clearly exasperated and angry at Trump enablers like Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, who objected to certifying the electoral vote.

At the least, a removal vote would force Republicans to either embrace or reject Trump as he tries to retain control of the party for the next four years. Are Republicans the party of violent fascist insurrection or not? Is Trump their king forever, or do they want to move on? It’s worth making McConnell and his cronies answer those questions.

Impeachment and removal alone aren’t a sufficient response to the ongoing assault on our democracy, of course. The people who invaded the Capitol should be arrested and prosecuted. Trump minions like Cruz, Hawley, and Gaetz should be censured by their colleagues, or better, expelled from Congress for their efforts to reject electors and overturn a democratic election. Our entire electoral system needs to be strengthened by expanding the franchise, investing in election security and administration, and eliminating the antiquated electoral college.

There is not much controversy about the seriousness of the insurrection at the Capitol yesterday. Right-wing, pro-Trump rioters attempted to halt the certification of Biden as the next president, and forced Congress to recess as members evacuated. The insurrection was clearly inspired by Trump, who has been claiming for weeks, with no evidence, that he is the rightful winner of November’s election, and that Biden engaged in massive vote fraud. There are reports that Trump resisted sending the National Guard to defend the Capitol against rioters.

Our democracy is as fragile as it has been at any time since the Civil War. We need to begin the work of repairing it as soon as possible. Impeachment and removal can’t be the end of that. But they should be the start.