How Trump could lose office before January 20th
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Trump calls for peace – and continues to incite
After his supporters stormed the Capitol, US President Donald Trump now addresses the demonstrators in a video on Twitter: “You have to go home now. We need peace. ”He also speaks of electoral fraud, however.
Following the attack on the Capitol in Washington by supporters of US President Donald Trump, there are calls to force the Republican to leave before his term actually ends on January 20. Experts point to two options.
NAfter Donald Trump’s supporters storm the US Capitol, calls for renewed impeachment proceedings against the outgoing president have increased. Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar announced on Twitter on Wednesday that she was already preparing articles to bring charges.
“We cannot allow him to stay in office, it is a question of preserving our republic and we have to fulfill our oath.” Her colleague Carolyn Bourdeaux joined the demand and made Trump personally responsible for the attack.
Experts point to two ways to force Trump to leave before January 20th:
Impeachment in Congress
Trump had to face such a process in December 2019, when the Democrats in the House of Representatives formally accused him of abuse of power and obstructing their investigations into the Ukraine affair. However, the Republicans prevented the impeachment with their majority in the Senate in February 2020.
In fact, an “impeachment” could be initiated again, as only a simple majority of the 435 votes in the House of Representatives is necessary. In the Senate, two thirds of the deputies would then have to vote for the actual condemnation.
According to constitutional expert Frank Bowman of the University of Missouri, Trump could now be accused of trying to overthrow the government. A more general charge such as lack of loyalty to the constitution or breaking the oath of office is also conceivable.
In theory, the whole process could be completed in one day: “You could settle an indictment against him by noon tomorrow and then walk through the Capitol Rotunda to the Senate and arrange for the trial to begin tomorrow afternoon,” says Bowman.
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution
This facility was created in 1967 in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It actually exists for situations in which the president can no longer exercise his office due to illness.
The Vice-President and the majority of the Cabinet must formally testify to this.
According to Bowman, the regulation is clearly intended for ailments and an application to Trump is unimaginable. Vice President Mike Pence is likely to have reservations about this step anyway.