Live updates: Pence rejects calls for him to remove Trump from office under the 25th Amendment
His letter came hours before the House was scheduled to vote on whether to officially call on him to declare Trump unfit for office and wrest control.
Separately, Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), No. 3 Republican in the House, said Tuesday that she will vote to impeach Trump, saying there has “never been a greater betrayal” by a president to his office and his oath to the Constitution days after a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol.
Trump called the effort by House Democrats to impeach him for a second time a “witch hunt” and offered no regrets for inciting the mob attack on the Capitol last week as he emerged from seclusion Tuesday to travel to Alamo, Tex., to tour a section of the border wall.
Rep. Liz Cheney’s historic decision Tuesday to vote to impeach President Trump had its roots in a dramatic phone call from her father
Rep. Liz Cheney’s historic decision Tuesday to vote to impeach President Trump had its roots in a dramatic phone call from her father, former vice president Richard B. Cheney, who was watching events unfold on television last week and warned that she was being verbally attacked by the president.
Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third-ranking member of the House Republican leadership, became the most prominent congressional Republican to call for Trump’s impeachment. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” Cheney said in a statement. “I will vote to impeach the president.”
Six days earlier, Cheney was in the House chamber, urging that Republicans reject efforts pushed by Trump and many in her party to challenge the electoral college results that had determined Trump had lost his reelection bid. She did not know that she was being attacked by Trump, who was delivering the speech that would incite a mob to storm the Capitol, until her father reached her by phone in the House cloakroom.
In letter to Pelosi, Pence says he does not support invoking 25th Amendment to remove Trump
Pence sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday night in which he declared his opposition to invoking the 25th Amendment to relieve Trump of his official duties.
“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Pence wrote in the letter.
Pence cited his rejection last week of Trump’s efforts to pressure him to unilaterally overturn Biden’s win, suggesting that Pelosi’s request — like the president’s — was a step too far.
“Last week, I did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation,” Pence said in the letter.
Trump defiant and unapologetic about his role in inciting Capitol mob attack
ALAMO, Tex. — President Trump emerged Tuesday from six days out of public view defiant and unapologetic about his incitement of last week's mob attack on the Capitol and warned that his impeachment could lead to more violence.
The president denied any culpability in the violent riot that killed a police officer and threatened the lives of Vice President Pence and members of Congress. He said his remarks encouraging throngs of supporters last Wednesday to march to the Capitol in a show of force to pressure and intimidate lawmakers to overturn the election results were “totally appropriate.”
During a visit to a portion of newly constructed border wall here in the Rio Grande Valley, Trump warned against the effort in Congress to hold him accountable.
“The impeachment hoax is a continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch hunt in the history of our country and is causing tremendous anger and division and pain, far greater than most people will ever understand, which is very dangerous for the U.S.A., especially at this very tender time,” Trump said.
Impeachment ‘is not a punishment of prior wrongs, but a protection against future evils,’ House Judiciary Democrats say
The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday released a majority staff report on Trump’s impeachment ahead of the chamber’s debate on voting for a second time to remove the 45th president from office.
In its 74-page report, staff for the panel’s Democratic majority lay out their argument for how Trump’s conduct “satisfies the standard for high Crimes and Misdemeanors,” describing the president as “a clear and present danger to the Constitution and our democracy.”
“Impeachment is not a punishment of prior wrongs, but a protection against future evils,” the report says. “It is true that the President’s remaining term is limited — but a President capable of fomenting violent insurrection in the Capitol is capable of greater dangers still.”
The report calls on members of the House to “reject this outrageous attempt to overturn the election and this incitement of violence by a sitting president against his own government.”
“President Trump committed a high Crime and Misdemeanor against the Nation by inciting an insurrection at the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election,” it continues. “The facts establish that he is unfit to remain in office a single day longer and warrant the immediate impeachment of President Trump.”
Biden’s defense secretary pick likely to obtain waiver despite bipartisan concerns
The Senate Armed Services Committee appears poised to approve a waiver allowing retired Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III to serve as the next defense secretary, despite serious concerns on both sides of the aisle that lawmakers risk dismantling the tradition of civilian leadership of the Pentagon in the process.
“We now have a clearly qualified candidate and a declaration by the president-elect that he needs General Austin for the safety and security of the nation,” said Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the committee’s top Democrat, who will soon take over as its chairman.
But after four years in which civil-military relations at the Pentagon “eroded significantly under President Trump,” approving another waiver raises the specter that “future presidents will default to nominating retired general officers to the position of secretary of defense, in lieu of qualified civilians,” Reed added.
Senate panel will hold hearing for Biden’s Homeland Security nominee Jan. 19
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing Jan. 19 to consider the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s choice for homeland security secretary.
The hearing, announced by Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) Tuesday afternoon, will be the second for one of the president-elect’s nominees.
Later Tuesday, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) announced that there will be a third confirmation hearing: The Senate Finance Committee will meet Jan. 19 to consider the nomination of Janet L. Yellen for treasury secretary.
The Senate Armed Services Committee announced last week that it will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of retired Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the president-elect’s choice for defense secretary. That hearing is scheduled for Jan. 19, as well.
Delays in Congress, caused primarily by runoff elections in Georgia and the arcane procedures needed to get the new chamber up and running, mean that Biden’s incoming administration is in danger of not having a single Cabinet official confirmed on Inauguration Day, upsetting a tradition going back to the Cold War of ensuring the president enters office with at least part of his national security team in place.
Biden team briefs Congress on emerging stimulus plan, aims for bipartisan deal
President-elect Joe Biden is finalizing his coronavirus relief plan, with aides briefing congressional staffers Tuesday and indicating that the measure will be tailored to get bipartisan support.
The proposal, which Biden intends to unveil on Thursday, is expected to include $2,000 stimulus payments, an extension of enhanced unemployment insurance, money for vaccine distribution and delivery, and funding for cities, states, schools, child care and more.
Transition officials indicated in meetings with Democratic staffers that Biden will try to get bipartisan support for the measure, instead of using a special budgetary tool that could allow him to push legislation through Congress with only Democratic votes, according to several people with knowledge of the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations were private.
That’s led to speculation that the price tag of the package could be below $2 trillion — although Biden said last week that it could cost in the multiple trillions of dollars. Republicans are likely to balk at spending too much more after Congress has already devoted around $4 trillion to fighting the ravaging coronavirus pandemic and economic fallout.
McConnell tells others: Trump probably committed impeachable offenses, but he’s undecided on how he’ll vote
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told people that Trump probably committed impeachable offenses, a detail first reported by the New York Times, according to an individual who has spoken to the Kentucky Republican.
But McConnell has not decided how he will vote in an impeachment trial in the Senate and wants to hear the case first, the person said. He does not plan to whip votes for or against impeachment, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations.
McConnell has not returned Trump’s calls in weeks — they have not spoken since Dec. 14 — and remains livid with him, an adviser said. “He’s not going to whip the vote,” the adviser said.
McConnell drew Trump’s wrath after he acknowledged Joe Biden’s win when the electoral college certified his victory last month.
McConnell’s office had no immediate response.
U.S. Marshals to deputize thousands of local law enforcement to help with inauguration
The U.S. Marshals Service is planning to deputize between 3,000 and 4,000 local law enforcement officers from across the country, who — at the request of D.C. police — will come to the District to help with security for the inauguration, an official said Tuesday.
Lamont J. Ruffin, the chief deputy of the U.S. Marshals Service for the District of Columbia, said his office does such deputizations each year and the number of those deputized is similar. Last year, according to the U.S. Marshals Service, more than 3,500 were given law enforcement authority.
Ruffin said he has been asked to prepare to possibly deputize members of the National Guard to give them law enforcement authority, too, but those plans have not been finalized. He said the Marshals Service had deputized some National Guardsmen in June in response to civil unrest during racial justice demonstrations.
Ruffin said the officers who come to the District hail from across the country — “all 50 states,” he said. They are required to fill out a form attesting that they meet certain requirements, including that they are not under active internal affairs investigations, and that their departments are up to date with their certifications on using deadly and nonlethal force. He said he was unaware of any additional requirements being imposed this year.
Some law enforcement officers who participated in the pro-Trump rally that preceded last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol have found themselves under investigation by their own departments, and the FBI has been investigating whether any military or law enforcement members broke any laws.
“To my knowledge, we’ve never had any issues,” Ruffin said.
Ruffin said regular deputy U.S. Marshals also will be on hand to respond to potential issues across the city at the request of law enforcement.
Rep. Kinzinger to vote to impeach Trump, third House Republican to break with the outgoing president
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Tuesday he will vote to impeach Trump later this week, becoming the third House Republican to break with the outgoing president.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection," he said in a statement. “He used his position in the Executive to attack the Legislative. So in assessing the articles of impeachment brought before the House, I must consider: if these actions — the Article II branch inciting a deadly insurrection against the Article I branch — are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?"
”I will vote in favor of impeachment,” he said.
Kinzinger has been sharply critical of Trump’s effort to subvert the November election for months. After Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol, he called for Trump’s removal under the 25th Amendment but did not immediately back impeachment.
His announcement follows those of Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the Republican conference chairwoman, and John Katko (N.Y.), the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Hogan calls GOP delegate who attacked Pence a ‘Q-Anon conspiracy theorist’
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Tuesday that a Republican state delegate who organized buses to the #stopthesteal rally in Washington — and called Vice President Pence a traitor during the breach of the Capitol — was a “Q-Anon conspiracy theorist.”
Hogan told reporters that the Maryland General Assembly may seek to censure or take some other formal action against first-term Del. Daniel L. Cox (R-Frederick), who tweeted “Mike Pence is a traitor” as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
The legislature could consider disciplinary action when it returns to Annapolis on Wednesday for its 90-day session. Such deliberations are confidential, however, and a spokeswoman for House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) declined to say whether an ethics investigation has been launched.
House Minority Leader Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel), the leader of Cox’s party in the chamber, also declined to comment.
Cox’s Twitter account is no longer active, and he did not return calls Tuesday.
Rep. Liz Cheney, No. 3 House Republican leader, says she will vote to impeach Trump
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third-ranking member of the House Republican leadership, said Tuesday that she will vote to impeach Trump for inciting last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“The president could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence,” Cheney said in a statement. “He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States to his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
“I will vote to impeach the President,” she said.
Cheney is the highest-ranking Republican member of Congress to announce that she will vote to impeach Trump. The Wyoming Republican has largely supported Trump and his agenda over the past four years but also has delivered stinging criticism of some of his actions, including his recent efforts to pressure Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” enough votes to overturn Biden’s win in the state.
In her statement Tuesday, Cheney cited the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday and said Trump had “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.”
“Everything that followed was his doing,” she said.
New York Rep. Katko is first Republican to announce he will vote to impeach Trump
Rep. John Katko (N.Y.) became the first Republican to announce that he would join Democrats in voting to impeach President Trump.
Katko is a moderate who was elected to a fourth term last November in a swing district that encompasses Syracuse. His vote will allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to cast the results as a bipartisan vote to impeach, and other Republicans are expected to join Katko.
“To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy,” Katko said in a statement. “For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this president.”
“It cannot be ignored that President Trump encouraged this insurrection — both on social media ahead of January 6th, and in his speech that day,” Katko added. “By deliberately promoting baseless theories suggesting the election was somehow stolen, the president created a combustible environment of misinformation, disenfranchisement, and division. When this manifested in violent acts on January 6th, he refused to promptly and forcefully call it off, putting countless lives in danger.”
Bureau of Prisons ‘making plans’ to send officers to help with inaugural security
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is “is making plans to send specially trained officers” to D.C. to assist with security during the Jan. 20 inauguration, a spokesman said Tuesday, potentially taking a posture similar to that which it did during the civil unrest during racial justice protests in June.
Justin Long, a Bureau of Prisons spokesman, said the department would only send personnel “if and as determined to be needed,” and declined to comment on a timeline or other details. In June, the department deployed its riot teams to D.C. — some of whom did not bear any identifying markings — and drew some criticism for a heavy-handed response.
Long said the bureau had also sent 100 officers to D.C. last week “to supplement existing Justice Department facility security personnel.”
“The BOP officers were trained to respond to public safety issues and were deputized under the authority granted the U.S. Marshals Service to enforce federal criminal statutes and protect federal property and personnel,” Long said. “These officers wore clothing that identified them as BOP staff and included numerical markings unique to each officer.”
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