THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2021 A7
WASHINGTON, D.C. | CAPITOL BREACH
Pelosi moves cautiously against Trump
BY BILLY HOUSE
Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON — House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is mov-
ing cautiously as she faces pres-
sure from angry Democrats
to impeach President Donald
Trump for a second time, while
President-elect Joe Biden is
making it clear he wants to fo-
cus on his agenda and fighting
the coronavirus.
With many House Democrats
demanding impeachment after
Trump encouraged a mob that
stormed the Capitol on Wednes-
day, Pelosi said Friday that Dem-
ocrats “will preserve every op-
tion” to force Trump from office
unless he resigns immediately.
That could either be through
the very unlikely prospect that
Vice President Mike Pence in-
vokes the 25th Amendment to
declare the president incapable
of governing or by impeach-
ment in the House, which
would require the Senate to act
and convict Trump.
She also could just let the
clock run out on Trump’s pres-
idency. Another possibility —
that Trump’s remaining advis-
ers might simply convince him
to resign — seems remote.
Pelosi said she’s instructed
the House Rules Committee to
be ready to move forward with
an impeachment case, but she
stopped short of saying that
would be brought for a vote.
“With great respect, our
deliberations will continue,”
Pelosi said in a statement. If
Democrats follow through,
Trump would become the first
American president to be im-
peached twice.
Transition to Biden
For Democratic leaders
there’s little risk in pressuring
Trump’s Cabinet and Pence,
but impeachment would put
the spotlight on Trump instead
of on preparing for Biden’s
incoming administration. It
could also mean a Senate im-
peachment trial during the
first days of Biden’s presidency,
forcing the chamber to set
aside other business, including
confirming a new Cabinet.
Biden on Friday, when asked
about impeaching Trump, said
that was a judgment for Con-
gress. But he also appeared to
suggest tapping the brakes on
such a politically fraught move
when there’s just days until his
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holds a news conference
on the day after violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump
stormed the Capitol.
inauguration and he wants to
begin tackling his agenda.
“It’s important we get on with
the business getting him out of
office. The quickest way that that
will happen is us being sworn
in on the 20th,” Biden said at a
news conference in Wilmington,
Delaware. “I am focused now
on us taking control as president
and vice president on the 20th,
and to get our agenda moving as
quickly as we can.”
Pelosi told House Demo-
crats in a conference call early
Friday afternoon that she
would be talking to Biden to
get his view about how they
should proceed, according to a
person who listened to the call.
A statement from the pres-
ident-elect’s transition team
later said Biden spoke to Pelosi
and Senate Democratic leader
Chuck Schumer but it made no
mention of any discussion of
what actions to take on Trump.
The text of the proposed im-
peachment resolution includes a
single article accusing Trump of
“Incitement of Insurrection” and
says he engaged in high crimes
and misdemeanors by “willfully
inciting violence against the gov-
ernment of the United States” in
connection with the storming
of the Capitol Wednesday by
throngs of his supporters.
Any attempt to impeach
Trump would be running up
against the calendar as well as
against divisions among Repub-
licans over how to contain the
president during his final days
in office. The House would have
just days to act before Biden’s
inauguration, and it’s not clear
that the Senate could move
ahead with a trial within a week.
Convicting Trump would re-
quire support from a significant
number of GOP senators.
McConnell’s message
about impeachment
Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, who has
stayed mum on any next steps
regarding Trump, sent a memo
to GOP senators late Friday
that outlines what the timeta-
ble would be for any impeach-
ment trial. It said the Senate is
in recess and it would require
unanimous consent in the
Unease with Trump
grows in the Senate
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
was the first GOP senator to
urge the president to step
down, telling the Anchorage
Daily News that she ques-
tioned her future as a Re-
publican if the party doesn’t
break with the outgoing
president.
“I want him to resign. I
want him out,“ Murkowski
said in a Friday interview
with the newspaper.
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.,
told Fox News on Saturday
that the president “commit-
ted impeachable offenses.”
Toomey has said he will
retire from Congress in 2022.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.,
has said he is open to con-
sidering impeachment pro-
ceedings.
chamber to act on any articles
impeachment trial before Jan.
19. A trial would not begin un-
til Trump’s term expired and
then would require the Senate
to remain in session daily until
a verdict is rendered.
Where Bentz, Wyden, Schrader stand on Trump’s removal
Bulletin wire reports
U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden, D-Ore.,
called for a swift,
last-minute removal
of President Don-
ald Trump in a news
conference Saturday, Wyden
days after the siege
of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump
supporters.
“My view is Donald Trump is a
clear and present danger,” Wyden
said. “He is responsible for this week’s
domestic terrorist attack on the peo-
ple’s Capitol and he ought to be held
to account.”
Wyden called for the president to
be removed by either impeachment
or use of the 25th amendment, which
requires a majority of the president’s
cabinet to declare him unfit for office.
U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader on Satur-
day added his voice to those calling
for Trump to be removed.
Schrader, a Democrat representing
the Salem area, part of the coastline
and the southern Portland suburbs,
said he will vote to impeach the presi-
dent, calling Trump “a clear and pres-
ent danger to our country.”
“While I have pushed other reme-
dies for his criminal
conduct, impeach-
ment is the tool
before us and war-
ranted for his sedi-
tious acts,” Schrader
said in a statement
Schrader
posted to social me-
dia Saturday.
Schrader’s statement comes the
day after he apologized for compar-
ing possible impeachment proceed-
ings against Trump to a “lynching.”
He made the comment on a call with
other House Democrats, sources told
ABC News. Schrader has faced blow-
Up To
back for his comment, including los-
ing the support of a powerful political
consultant group based in Portland.
Bentz: No impeachment,
no resignation
Rep. Cliff Bentz, Oregon’s sole Re-
publican member of Congress, said in
an interview Saturday with the Mal-
heur Enterprise that impeachment
wouldn’t be a “productive exercise.”
He also said Trump shouldn’t resign.
Bentz, the representative for much of
Eastern and Central Oregon, took office
a week ago and had joined the effort in
Congress to overturn the presidential
50% off
election results.
Articles of im-
peachment could
come Monday, and
the House could
vote on them by the
middle of the week.
Bentz
House Majority
Leader Nancy Pelosi
and Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer have called for the presi-
dent’s removal, as well as other mem-
bers from Oregon’s congressional del-
egation, including Sen. Jeff Merkley
and Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Peter De-
Fazio and Suzanne Bonamici.
*
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