A Massachusetts congresswoman said Friday that lawmakers are prepared to move to impeach President Donald Trump next week just days after a violent and deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building that many public officials argue the incumbent commander-in-chief helped incite.
In an interview with CNN, U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, one of the top lawmakers in the House of Representatives, said Democrats in the lower chamber of Congress will move forward with impeachment proceedings against Trump if Vice President Mike Pence does not invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
“Donald Trump needs to be removed from office, and we are going to proceed with every tool that we have to make sure that that happens to protect our democracy,” Clark told CNN. “If the reports are correct, and Mike Pence is not going to uphold his oath of office and remove the president and help protect our democracy, then we will move forward with impeachment to do just that.”
Clark, who serves as assistant speaker of the House, pointed out Congress has limited time to impeach Trump. The congresswoman argued “every day that Donald Trump is president of the United States is a day of grave danger.”
“So we can use procedural tools to get articles of impeachment to the floor for a House vote quickly,” Clark said.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, chair of the Judiciary Committee, has stated he is prepared to draw articles of impeachment as early as the middle of next week, according to Clark.
In a tweet after her interview with CNN, Clark noted House Democrats “are actively working to determine the timeline and the quickest path to hold Trump accountable.”
“We face obstruction and attempts to delay us by the GOP defenders, but we’re resolute. We will act to protect the American people,” she said.
Multiple Democrats in the House, among them U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, announced Thursday they had already drafted articles of impeachment for the sitting Republican president.
The news came shortly after officials within the Trump administration told reporters his Cabinet discussed removing him from office through the invocation of the 25th Amendment.
“We have a responsibility to act and to act swiftly and decisively, and we know that we have to have Republicans find this moment to step up to honor their country over this one person who seems to have such a grip on them,” Clark said during an interview with MSNBC.
“There’s no gray area here. This is a clear decision. This President is a danger. This President is a traitor. And this President must be removed from office,” she added.
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