US House Republicans on Monday (local time) blocked a request by Democrats to unmously pass a resolution seeking Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from power, following a violent breach of the US Capitol by the president's supporters last week.
According to The Hill, during a brief session on the floor, Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer asked that the resolution, authored by fellow Maryland Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, a constitutional scholar, be passed unmously.
The resolution called on Pence to "convene and mobilize" the Cabinet, declare Trump unfit to carry out his duties, and vote to strip the president of his powers under Article 4 of the 25th Amendment.
However, Republican Representative Alex Mooney objected to Hoyer's request. Mooney said he opposed Democrats rushing to pass a "resolution of this magnitude" with no debate.
"Speaker Pelosi should not attempt to adopt a resolution of this magnitude without any debate on the floor of the US House of Representatives. It is wrong to have sent members of Congress home and then try to adopt without any debate a precedent-setting resolution that could imperil our Republic," Mooney said in a statement.
After the exchange on the floor, Hoyer told reporters that the full House will vote on the rule for the resolution Tuesday and vote for final passage on Tuesday evening. That would force Republicans to go on record three times opposing the 25th Amendment resolution, Democrats said.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi repeatedly has said that she favors Pence invoking the 25th Amendment to quickly remove Trump after Wednesday's deadly insurrection, reported The Hill.
Meanwhile, House Democrats have introduced a resolution to impeach US President Donald Trump on Monday, on charges of "incitement of insurrection" during the Capitol riots.
Chaotic and violent scenes erupted at the Capitol on Wednesday as supporters of Trump stormed the building to protest the Electoral College vote, forcing a lockdown and confrontations with the police.
Wednesday's violence came hours after Trump encouraged his supporters to fight against the election results as Congress was certifying Biden's victory in the November vote.
( With inputs from ANI )
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