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Updated Jan 10, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Pelosi says House "will proceed" with Trump impeachment action

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC January 7, 2021.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a press conference on Capitol Hill Thursday. Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) outlined plans Sunday to move ahead with legislation to impeach President Trump over last week's siege at the U.S. capitol.

Driving the news: Pelosi said in a letter to Democrats the House will on Monday work to pass a resolution designed to press Vice President Mike Pence to "convene and mobilize the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to declare the President incapable of executing the duties of his office."

  • Pelosi is giving Pence 24 hours to respond. If not, "we will proceed with bringing impeachment legislation to the Floor," she said.

What else she's saying: Pelosi said she wanted to act "with urgency" in "protecting our Constitution and our Democracy" because "this President represents an imminent threat to both."

  • "As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action," she added.

Between the lines: Some senior officials at the State Department and other agencies have privately discussed the need to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office, but that idea is going nowhere, Axios' Jonathan Swan notes.

Of note: Pelosi did not say when a vote on impeachment would happen. But House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told CNN earlier Sunday, "Let's give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running, and maybe we'll send the articles sometime after that."

The big picture: Many lawmakers, including Republicans, have condemned Trump's actions surrounding the riot of his supporters at the Capitol.

  • No president has ever been impeached twice, but many Democrats and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) have said they believe Trump "committed impeachable offenses" over the violence and that he should resign. Others, like Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), have said they would consider articles of impeachment.
  • House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has said impeaching Trump will "only divide our country more."
  • Pence's office did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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