Pence will not invoke 25th Amendment as Democrats move to impeach

Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday night he will not remove President Donald Trump from office, shortly before the House was set to call on him and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment.

The Democratic-held chamber will vote Tuesday night to call on the executive branch to push Trump out of the White House after he helped to foment last week’s deadly attack on the Capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had pressed Pence on whether he would remove the president. She said that if the vice president did not act, the chamber would vote Wednesday to make Trump the first president ever impeached twice.

“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 of the 25th Amendment in a letter to Pelosi. He did not mention Trump’s name.

Pence argued that using the process now would “set a terrible precedent” because the amendment as written applies to cases of presidential incapacity or disability. He wrote that “our Administration’s energy is directed to ensuring an orderly transition” to President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.

While Pence did not specifically mention the impeachment push, he urged Congress “to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment” as “we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden as the next President of the United States.”

The House is expected to pass the 25th Amendment measure, which does not compel Pence and Cabinet secretaries to take action. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., tried to approve the resolution by unanimous consent on Monday. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., blocked it.

The Democrats, who on Monday introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, say they have enough votes to charge the president with high crimes and misdemeanors. At least three Republicans will join Democrats in impeaching the president.

The insurrection at the legislature, which left five people including a Capitol police officer dead, sparked a rush to hold Trump accountable with only a few days remaining in his term. Supporters of his removal say leaving the president in office even until Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration poses too much risk.

Some members of both parties have said they prefer censuring the president, in part because the Senate may not have enough time to remove Trump even if the House sends articles across the Capitol as soon as possible. But those who back impeachment argue a symbolic vote will not hold Trump to account for his role in the riot that threatened lawmakers’ lives and disrupted their count of Biden’s election victory — a formal step in the peaceful transfer of power.

Trump spoke publicly Tuesday for the first time since the attack on the Capitol. He did not take any responsibility for the mob violence and warned a second impeachment could be dangerous for the country.

Speaking later in the day at a stretch of border wall in Texas, Trump made a vague threat against Biden while…