House could move to impeach Trump by next week, top Democrat says

The House could move next week to impeach President Donald Trump if Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet do not remove the president before then, a top Democrat said Friday.

Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the fourth-ranking House Democrat, told CNN that the chamber could act “as early as mid-next week.” She said the House could take steps to bring articles of impeachment to the floor without going through committee hearings and votes.

The House has prepared to impeach Trump an unprecedented second time after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on Wednesday and delayed Congress’ formal count of President-elect Joe Biden‘s election win. At least five people, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer, died as a result of the attack on the legislature.

Trump spoke to his supporters before they marched on the Capitol, spouting conspiracy theories that widespread fraud cost him the election. He lied to them about the results for two months before he acknowledged Thursday that a “new administration” would take power.

Biden will take office on Jan. 20. Democrats have called for Trump’s removal as they warn he could further degrade democratic institutions or put more lives at risk during his final days in office.

But it is unclear whether they have enough time to remove the president before Inauguration Day — or how many Republicans will join them in the process. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who voted to object to counting Biden’s Arizona and Pennsylvania electoral wins after the mob attacked the Capitol, said he opposed impeachment because it will “only divide our country more.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Thursday for Pence and Trump’s Cabinet to remove Trump by invoking the 25th Amendment. They said he could not remain in office after inciting an “insurrection.” More than 190 other lawmakers, only one of them a Republican, have also called for Trump’s removal since the attack.

Pelosi and Schumer said invoking the 25th Amendment, which requires support from Pence and a majority of the Cabinet, would be the quickest way to remove Trump. However, Pence reportedly does not back the move. While officials including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the prospect of removing Trump, they decided not to take the step for now.