Congressman Josh Harder joins calls to remove Trump by ‘any legal means’
Rep. Josh Harder has joined dozens of Democrats who are calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office, possibly setting up an unprecedented second impeachment vote against a sitting president.
The calls come after Trump’s words encouraged a violent mob to force their way into the U.S. Capitol while Congress was in the process of certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win on Wednesday.
Immediately after, some Democratic representatives called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, which would allow Trump’s Cabinet to remove him from office. Pence reportedly does not support invoking the amendment.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has said the House will move to impeach Trump a second time if Pence does not act. Impeachment articles have already been drafted, and dozens of Democratic members of Congress have said they will sign on. Some Republicans have called for Trump to be removed or resign, but they have not specifically supported impeachment.
Harder said on Friday that he supported those efforts.
“This week’s violence at the Capitol was a tragic assault on our democracy. The President incited these actions for years and could continue to do so,” Harder, D-Turlock, tweeted on Friday. “He should be removed from office by any legal means.”
Ian Lee, Harder’s spokesman, confirmed to McClatchy that “any legal means” included both efforts to invoke the 25th Amendment and impeach Trump.
House Democrats have said an impeachment vote could occur as soon as next week.
The House already impeached Trump in late 2019, but the Senate acquitted him in early 2020. It’s still unclear if another impeachment effort would follow the same path, but some Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, have said they do not support the effort.
“If Speaker Pelosi pushes impeachment in the last days of the Trump presidency it will do more harm than good,” Graham tweeted Friday. “I’m hopeful President-elect Biden sees the damage that would be done from such action.”
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