Democrats are discussing Friday whether to move forward with the quick impeachment of President Donald Trump if his Cabinet doesn’t try to remove him first, acting swiftly two days after the U.S. Capitol was ransacked by a pro-Trump mob.
House Democrats are set to hold a caucus meeting at noon, the first since Wednesday’s harrowing events at the Capitol, and could take up articles of impeachment against Trump as soon as next week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed the prospect of impeachment with her leadership team Thursday night, hours after announcing the House was willing to act if Vice President Mike Pence and other officials did not invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment — the forceful removal of Trump from power by his own Cabinet.
Five people are now dead from the violent melee, including police officer Brian Sicknick. Pelosi said in a statement Friday that Sicknick’s death “reminds us of our obligation to those we serve: to protect our country from all threats foreign and domestic.”
She said those responsible for the death of the officer “must be brought to justice.”
Though Trump has less than two weeks in office, lawmakers and even some in his administration began discussing options for his removal Wednesday afternoon as Trump first encouraged the crowd to march on the Capitol, then refused to forcefully condemn the violent assault and appeared to excuse it.
Today on AirTalk, we are getting the latest from Washington D.C. and hearing more about what a second impeachment of President Donald Trump could look like. Questions? Comment below or call us with your questions at 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press
We reached out to Rep. Adam Schiff, but he is not doing interviews right now. We also contacted U.S. Representatives Mike Garcia (R-CA 25th), Young Kim (R-CA 39th) and Michelle Steel (R-CA 48th) of Orange County to invite them to comment as well. As of the airing of this segment, we have not received a response to our request but we will update this segment if we hear back from them.
Guests:
Anita Kumar, White House correspondent and associate editor for POLITICO; she tweets @anitakumar01
Jack Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College; he tweets @jpitney
Ted Lieu, Democratic Congressman representing California’s 33rd Congressional District, which encompasses many coastal neighborhoods along the Pacific Coast, from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Palos Verdes Peninsula; he tweets @tedlieu
