25th Amendment vs. Impeachment

History will remember the tragic events that took place January 6th of 2021. On that Wednesday, a group of Donald Trump supporters rioted at our nation's Capital building in Washington D.C., and what started as a peaceful “Save America March” quickly escalated into a mob of people swarming the Capitol building. Many blame Donald Trump.

The mob of people trapped members of Congress inside and put the Capitol building on lockdown. As crowds of rioters climbed the Capitol walls, broke windows, and pushed past Capitol police, National Guard, Secret Service, and the building's security, they broke into the building. With bomb threats and armed domestic terrorists, Representatives and Senators were afraid for their lives. Multiple Senators, both Democratic and Republican, agreed that this was a humiliation to our country. Whether or not this was Donald Trump’s fault, many can agree that this was one of the most disappointing days in the history of our nation.

Following the events of January 6th, many are blaming Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi. Speaker Pelosi has urged Vice President Mike Pence and the rest of President Trump's cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment which states, “Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principle offers of the executive departments or such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”  In simple terms, if Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump's cabinet agreed on removing President Trump and Congress went along with it, President Trump would be removed as President, and Vice President Mike Pence would become the Acting President and continue the duties of a President until the inauguration of President-Elect of Joseph Biden on January 20th.

The second option for Donald Trump's removal of office is impeachment. This would be his second impeachment while serving his time as our nation’s President, but this time Congress is ready. Speaker for the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, stated “We must take action” on removing President Trump from office. She and the Democratic caucus in the House unanimously impeached Trump on January 13th as Vice President Mike Pence did not move forward with invoking the 25th amendment. It was not just Pelosi who wanted President Trump removed from office, it was countless Republican and Democratic politicians as well. A handful of Republican Senators, such as Pat Toomey (R-PA), stated that Trump simply “needs to get out.”  President-elect Joe Biden also stated that “for a long time President Trump was not fit to hold the job.”

Whether Trump was impeached or the 25th amendment invoked or neither, two things are for certain: President Trump’s presidential authority expires on January 20th at 12:00 PM, and January 6th will go down in history as a dark day in America.