House to vote on Article 25 Amendment resolution against Trump

Alamo, United States: President Donald Trump said Tuesday there is “zero” chance of him being forced from office by his government under invocation of the 25th Amendment for which the legislators are expected to convene at 7:30 p.m. ET (Tuesday).

“The 25th amendment is of zero risk to me,” Trump said in Alamo, Texas, in reference to pressure by Democrats on Vice President Mike Pence to remove Trump through the almost never used constitutional measure.

Trump warned, without further explanation, that the amendment “will come back to haunt Joe Biden and the Biden administration. As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for.” Trump was already impeached once by the Democratic-controlled House in December 2019 for pressuring Ukraine´s president to dig up political dirt on Biden. He was acquitted by the Republican-majority Senate.

First, the House of Representatives will vote Tuesday on a longshot bid to get Pence and the cabinet to invoke the US Constitution´s 25th Amendment, which would declare Trump unfit to perform his duties and install Pence as acting president. Democrats will then follow up with impeachment proceedings, including a House vote expected Wednesday.

Pence and Trump met late Monday for the first time since the Capitol attack, and had a “good conversation” pledging to continue working for the remainder of their terms, said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Pence has given no indication he would proceed with invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. No member of the Cabinet has publicly called for Trump to be removed from office through the 25th Amendment process.

Any conviction would likely occur after he is no longer president, but it would disqualify Trump, who may consider a White House run in 2024, from holding public office again. In the US Capitol on Monday, where security has tightened substantially including a metal fence around the building, Republicans blocked immediate passage of the 25th Amendment resolution, forcing a debate and House vote.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi hit out at Republicans, accusing them of enabling Trump´s “unhinged, unstable and deranged acts of sedition to continue.” In the Republican-controlled Senate, which is on recess until January 19, top Democrat Chuck Schumer is said to be considering a rarely used maneuver to force the chamber back into session under emergency circumstances to more quickly open an impeachment trial.

Some Democrats have expressed concern that a trial would hamper Biden´s efforts to get his cabinet confirmed and quickly lay out his agenda, starting with the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the need to support the economy.

Even with time running short, House Democrats likely have the votes to impeach Trump again and congressman David Cicilline, who introduced the resolution, told reporters afterward he expects it will find Republican backing.

Although two Republican senators — Pat Toomey and Lisa Murkowski — have publicly called on Trump to resign, Democrats are unlikely to muster the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump in the 100-member Senate and remove him from office.

While Biden´s transition team expressed confidence in the ability to hold a safe inauguration, the FBI warned in an internal memo that armed pro-Trump protesters could seek to disrupt the inauguration.

The bureau, according to ABC News, also received information on a group seeking to “storm” government offices in all 50 states on Inauguration Day.Authorities are seeking to arrest more people who raided the Capitol. The siege left five people dead.

Military personnel have flooded into Washington, where as many as 15,000 National Guard troops could be deployed.