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The calls for Donald Trumps removal from office are intensifying, as some lawmakers blame the president for inciting the mob who stormed and vandalized the US Capitol.

That includes a small group of mostly moderate Republican leaders who have condemned Trump and demanded that he resign or be forced out, either by invoking the 25th Amendment or through impeachment proceedings.

The number of GOP voices remains tiny compared to the growing number of Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and soon-to-be Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who are calling for Trumps ouster.

On Monday, Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against the president, one count of incitement of insurrection. The House could vote as early as this week. Trump could very well be impeached a second time, but two-thirds of the Senate would still be needed to convict him before he could be removed from office and the Senate may not conclude the trial before Trumps term expires.

Most Republican senators have so far stayed silent or are opposed. Large swaths of the House GOP caucus stand resolutely behind Trump, and House Republicans blocked a measure on Monday demanding Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet remove Trump under the 25th Amendment.

Republicans, then, are largely closing ranks around the president. But the smattering of denouncements shows that at least some in the Republican Party want a future separate from Trump small though that group may be.

Below are the few Republicans currently in office who have so far demanded Trumps resignation or removal from office.

Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican whos retiring in 2022, became the second GOP senator to say Trump should step down. The best way for our country is for the president to resign and go away as soon as possible, he told Meet the Press on Sunday.

Toomey also said in an interview with Fox News this weekend that he believed the president had committed impeachable offenses, though he hesitated on whether impeachment proceedings and removing him from office was the best course. I dont know whats going to land on the Senate floor, if anything, he said.

Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski became the first Republican senator to demand that Trump leave office. She did not mention impeachment or other methods of removal, but she was unequivocal in her censure of the president.

I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage, Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News in a Friday interview.

He doesnt want to stay there, she added. He only wants to stay there for the title. He only wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I dont think hes capable of doing a good thing.

Murkowski has a reputation as one of the more moderate Senate Republicans though she may not even call herself a Republican for much longer. She told the Anchorage Daily News that she might leave the party if it continues to organize itself around Trump. I will tell you, if the Republican Party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me, she said. (Murkowski has since said that if she does leave the GOP, it wont mean shed ever become a Democrat.)

Vermonts Republican governor, who was just sworn in for his third term, was among the first prominent Republicans to demand Trump resign or be removed from office by his Cabinet, or by Congress.

Make no mistake, the President of the United States is responsible for this event, Scott wrote in a thread on Twitter Wednesday afternoon. President Trump has orchestrated a campaign to cause an insurrection that overturns the results of a free, fair and legal election.

Kinzinger also called on the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, the first Republican member of Congress to do so.

All indications are that the president has become unmoored not just from his duty or even his oath but from reality itself, Kinzinger said in a video statement posted on Twitter. It is for this reason that I call for the Vice President and members of the Cabinet to ensure the next few weeks are safe for the American people and that we have a sane captain of the ship.

Kinzinger was among the first Republicans to recognize Biden as the rightful president-elect, and has tried to debunk election fraud conspiracies. He has criticized his congressional colleagues who had planned to object to the Electoral College results, calling them not serious people. Kinzinger did not specifically mention impeachment in his statement, though he told MSNBC he has not ruled out supporting such a move.

Marylands governor may be the most prominent GOP figure to demand Trumps removal. In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Hogan said there is no question that America could be better off if the president resigned or were removed from office.

After the press conference, Hogan wrote, It is clear to me that President Trump has abandoned his sacred oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Hogan, though a Republican, is not exactly an infrequent Trump critic, and hes broken with the president on his handling of the coronavirus and immigration. In 1974, Hogans father, a GOP congressman, was the first House Republican to support the impeachment of Richard Nixon.

Massachusettss Republican Gov. Charlie Baker another moderate GOPer whos clashed with the president also blamed Trump for the violence in Washington, DC, and for fomenting the chaos with his election fraud conspiracy theories. In a news conference Thursday, he said Pence should lead the transition.

Its 14 days, OK? Baker said, according to the Boston Globe. I think people should pursue whatever they believe will make it possible, in the most expeditious way possible, for the president to step down and the vice president to assume the powers of the office for the next 14 days so that an orderly transition can take place.

Still, the list of Republicans who have explicitly said Trump should go is still quite short.

Many though certainly not all Republican leaders have called out Trump for feeding these conspiracy theories to his supporters, and for using his platform at the rally Wednesday to radicalize the protesters present.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) did not directly call for Trumps removal, but in an interview with CBS This Morning last week, he signaled that he was open to impeachment proceedings.

The House, if they come together and have a process, I will definitively consider whatever articles they might move because as Ive told you, I believe the president has disregarded his oath of office, Sasse told CBS This Mornings Gayle King. He swore an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. He acted against that. What he did was wicked.

A handful of Cabinet officials have also resigned in protest, most notably Elaine Chao, the transportation secretary, and Betsy DeVos, the education secretary. Others considered resigning, including National Security Adviser Robert OBrien, though he was reportedly persuaded to stay on.

Condemnation came from former officials, including those who served under Trump. Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who resigned last month not long after he denied the presidents allegations of widespread voter fraud, said in a statement that orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable. Barr said, The presidents conduct yesterday was a betrayal of his office and supporters. John Kelly, former White House chief of staff and former homeland security secretary, said on CNN that he would, if still in the Cabinet, vote to remove Trump.

Some of these denouncements come a bit late, as many of Trumps Republican allies did little to stop or condemn Trump and his falsehoods about election fraud in weeks prior to the insurrection at the Capitol.

And so far, few Republicans with actual power to remove the president from office i.e., those in Congress or leading a Cabinet agency have said they would definitely do so. Pence is reportedly opposed to invoking the 25th Amendment, and many other lawmakers look like theyd rather move on, echoing the presidents statement Thursday night, where he recognized that a new administration would take over and tried to distance himself from the Capitol assault.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of Trumps biggest defenders in the Senate, said Friday that, as Trump stated, it is time to heal and move on.

If Speaker Pelosi pushes impeachment in the last days of the Trump presidency, it will do more harm than good, he said.

Support Vox's explanatory journalism

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Read more from the original source:
The Republicans who want Trump to leave office now - Vox.com

1. Republicans Recoil From Trump as Violence Proves Too Much  Bloomberg
2. California Republicans contributed to the disgraceful day by enabling Trump's election lies  San Francisco Chronicle
3. Insurrection marks moment of reckoning for Republicans  WSLS 10
4. A shadow over democracy, the White House and the Republican Party  NBC News
5. 121 House Republicans Vote To Reject Arizona's Electors After Capitol Breach  Forbes
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Republicans Recoil From Trump as Violence Proves Too Much - Bloomberg

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is among the Republican lawmakers planning to object to Congress' tally of the Electoral College votes on Wednesday. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide caption

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is among the Republican lawmakers planning to object to Congress' tally of the Electoral College votes on Wednesday.

A significant share of Republicans plan to object to the Electoral College vote results, slowing down the inevitable that Joe Biden will be the next president.

Their objections stem from false allegations of widespread voter fraud in an election that experts say went smoothly and the results of which all 50 states and the District of Columbia have certified. President Trump has continued to push conspiracy theories of irregularities and has called on Republicans including his own vice president to challenge the results.

By this week, the tally of those planning to raise objections has reached more than 100 House Republicans and more than a dozen GOP senators.

They include Republican Reps. Mo Brooks of Alabama, Matt Gaetz of Florida and Louie Gohmert of Texas, who were among the first wave of members of Congress to say they would object to the results. Dozens more have joined the ranks.

Other House members expected to object Wednesday include Ohio's Jim Jordan, New York's Elise Stefanik, Georgia's Jody Hice and South Carolina's Joe Wilson. Several freshman Republicans have also said they will join in the plans.

Notably, top House GOP members have remained mum on the plan publicly, though Brooks claims he has the support of the chamber's minority leader, Kevin McCarthy.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Senate GOP leaders had urged their caucus not to take part a member of the upper chamber is needed to join a House member's objection for it to move forward. (Here's more on how that works.)

However, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was the first to publicly break ranks last month, and he was soon followed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and others. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who is facing a tough first election run in Georgia's Senate runoff races, was among the most recent additions to the group.

In a recent statement, Cruz said he joined forces to raise objections about electoral votes from "disputed states," along with Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Steve Daines of Montana, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Mike Braun of Indiana.

Several newly elected senators who began their terms on Sunday are also in the group with Cruz, including Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

GOP sources familiar with the discussions say the Republican lawmakers planning to object on Wednesday are focused primarily on Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. They are also weighing challenges against Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.

Here is the original post:
Republicans Objecting To Electoral Count: Ted Cruz, Mo Brooks And More : Congress Reconvenes After Insurrection: Live Updates - NPR

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Congress has reconvened to certify Joe Biden as the next president of the United States late Wednesday, hours after an insurgent mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in what lawmakers condemned as an attempted insurrection.

Shaken by the extraordinary scenes of chaos and violence that struck at the heart of American democracy, members of the House and Senate returned to the Capitol to continue the process of certifying the electoral college vote that would validate Bidens victory. Several Republican senators, unsettled by the days events, which had seen them duck under tables and don gas masks, said they no longer supported a brazen but doomed effort to keep Trump in office by rejecting the results of the electoral college.

In late night speeches, lawmakers lamented the siege of the hallowed halls of Congress and the deep divisions sharpened and exploited by the president that led to this perilous moment.

This failed attempt to obstruct the Congress, this failed insurrection, only underscores how crucial the task before us is for our republic, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said, declaring that lawmakers would not be intimidated by thugs, mobs, or threats.

Speaking to both the would-be revolutionaries who stormed and occupied the Capitol and the rebels in his own caucus who supported an effort to throw out the election results, McConnell vowed to certify the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer who in the midst of the mayhem learned that he would soon become the majority leader, after Democrats won a second runoff election in Georgia said 6 January was a day that would live forever in infamy.

The uprising disrupted what was the early stages of a futile attempt by dozens of congressional Republicans to reject certification of the electoral college votes, that affirmed Trumps defeat, 306-232.

Traditionally a ceremonial affair, Trump convinced his allies on Capitol Hill to turn the pro forma ritual into what would be his last stand in an increasingly reckless effort to cling to power. The constitutionally-mandated joint session of Congress began at 1pm, with Pence presiding over the proceedings and each states electoral votes secured in mahogany boxes.

But the proceedings quickly devolved into a shocking series of events unprecedented in modern American history, as hundreds and then thousands of Trump supporters, many wearing red Maga caps and some armed, barrelled past security barricades and bashed through the Capitol doors. Some smashed windows and scaled the buildings exterior, waving Trump flags from a balcony, while authorities, seemingly outnumbered and unprepared, struggled to regain control.

By nightfall, authorities said the Capitol had been secured. Escorted by armed officers, Vice-president Mike Pence, who is presiding over the joint session of Congress, senators and members of the House returned to their chambers to resume debate over an objection to the electoral college count.

But the mood had changed remarkably from earlier that afternoon, when a band of Republicans arrived on Capitol Hill prepared to lead a futile rebellion against certification. Several senators reversed course and voted to uphold the results of the electoral college after saying they would object.

Others were undeterred. Republican Senator Josh Hawley, one of the Senate leaders seeking to overturn the results, argued that the earlier violence should not dismiss his concerns that fraud had occurred during the election. Just after midnight, he joined some House Republicans in seeking to throw out Pennsylvanias electoral slate.

For those who planned to forge ahead with the plot, Republicans senator Mitt Romney warned in a floor speech that drew sustained applause that they would forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy.

Attempts by House Republicans to object to the electoral slate in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada failed to garner support from a senator and were not considered.

Earlier in the day, rioters for hours roamed the marbled halls of Congress shouting, we want Trump. Amid the bedlam, one woman was fatally shot, the DC police confirmed. The building was placed on lockdown, and the DC mayor imposed a rare 6pm curfew, as national guard troops were activated.

After initially declaring this is a time for strength and urging his supporters to walk down to the Capitol, Trump later attempted to appeal for calm. In a video taped from the White House, the president instructed his followers to go home. But he also fueled their grievances by again claiming the election was stolen. Facebook and Twitter removed the video.

In remarks from Wilmington, Biden condemned what he called an unprecedented assault and implored Trump to fulfill his oath and demand an end to this siege.

This is not dissent. Its disorder. Its chaos. It borders on sedition, said Biden, who is just two weeks away from being sworn in as the 46th US president. The world is watching.

Several lawmakers said the days events were tantamount to an attempted coup. Teargas was deployed in the Capitol Rotunda. Rioters, who were mostly white men, streamed into the Senate chamber. One swung from the balcony above the floor. They trashed the office of the Senate parliamentarian and entered the private office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, leaving behind a note that read: WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN. In a shocking episode, officers drew their guns on the floor of the House, where just outside an armed protester faced off with Capitol police.

Many blamed the president for stoking the violence by refusing to accept the reality of his decisive electoral defeat. Romney, who lost the 2012 presidential election to Barack Obama, described what transpired on Wednesday as the result of a selfish mans injured pride.

All 50 states have certified the election results after a number of closely contested states conducted post-election audits and recounts to ensure their accuracy. Courts at every level, including the supreme court, have rejected dozens of lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies to challenge the results. Wednesday was to be his day of reckoning.

In his increasingly desperate bid to remain in power, Trump, who has yet to concede, spent the last several weeks attempting to enlist allies and pressure public officials to overturn Bidens win. His machinations escalated last weekend when he demanded the Georgia secretary of state, Republican Brad Raffensperger, find enough votes to reverse his defeat in the state.

His ire then turned to Pence, who he implored publicly to do the right thing and reject the electoral vote tally a power the vice-president does not have. Pences decision not to interfere in the certification process infuriated Trump, who lashed out at him on Wednesday as he was being escorted from the Senate chamber out of concern for his safety.

Mike Pence didnt have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our constitution, giving states a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth! Trump said in a tweet flagged by Twitter for amplifying falsehoods about the election. Twitter later suspended the presidents account.

Several House Democrats called for Trumps removal from office, blaming Trump for fomenting the violence that unfolded. With two weeks left in his presidency, congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, said she was drawing up articles of impeachment and congressman Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, urged Pence to invoke the 25th amendment and remove him from office.

Let me be very clear: if all we do is accept the certified electoral college results and go home, we would have failed our country, Lieu said in a tweet calling for Trumps removal office. Congress cannot just go home like nothing happened.

Excerpt from:
Vote to certify Biden victory resumed after pro-Trump mob storms Capitol - The Guardian

Editors note, January 6, 8:40 pm ET: This situation continues to evolve quickly after pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the Capitol. Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), and James Lankford (R-OK) have indicated that they will no longer object to the vote certification. Additionally, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has indicated that there should be no more objections, but not all 11 remaining planned objectors have confirmed that. This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available. For all of Voxs latest coverage of the situation at the Capitol, follow our storystream.

On January 6, Congress is scheduled to certify the Electoral College vote.

In defiance of all available evidence, the American constitutional process, and long-held democratic norms, 14 Republican senators have announced they will object to that certification.

These senators ultimately wont succeed, but its a definite escalation from what had largely been cheap talk from Republicans still backing the presidents repeated attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Though President Donald Trump had large swaths of the GOP backing him in his earlier efforts to cast doubt on President-elect Joe Bidens victory and litigate the results, the latest (and last-ditch) effort to focus on Congresss certification vote began with Sen. Josh Hawley. On December 30, Hawley released a statement saying he cannot vote to certify the electoral college results allegedly due to his belief that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws. He also accused Facebook and Twitter of having interfered in Bidens favor (Hawley has made a name for himself crusading against Big Tech).

Three days later, 11 other senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz announced that they would reject the electors from disputed states unless an emergency 10-day audit of the election results was completed. Their argument largely rests on the fact that lots of people have questions about the legitimacy of the election conveniently ignoring any role the president and prominent Republicans played in sowing doubt by peddling conspiracy theories that have been widely debunked.

The night before the Georgia Senate runoffs, within a minute of one another on Twitter, both Republican candidates announced their opposition to certification. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler declared that she would vote against certification as her colleague Sen. David Perdue tweeted out a clip from an interview where he says, I agree that I would [object] and urges his colleagues in the Senate to join the effort. Both Loeffler and Perdue have since lost their races.

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) published an op-ed where he acknowledges that our Constitution and the law requires that I accept the states final decision on an election. However, he goes on to say that he is still prepared to oppose some electors.

As Cameron Peters explained for Vox, far from the whole GOP conference is on board with Hawley, Cruz, and the other senators plans to object to what is normally a perfunctory procedure.

Still, 14 Republican senators about a quarter of the conference isnt nothing. The current roster of objecting senators is:

In the House, more than 100 Republican members have announced their intention to object on January 6. While concerning, these numbers do not come close to the level necessary to actually reject the Electoral College vote.

Voxs Andrew Prokop has more on the procedural details of what will happen Wednesday, but briefly: Vice President Mike Pence will begin the process of counting the Electoral College votes, at which point if even one House member and one senator object, both chambers have to vote. As Prokop explains, for the objection to succeed both the House and the Senate must vote in favor of it. At the end of the day, there arent enough Republicans to actually reject the Electoral Colleges votes, but its an opportunity for potential 2024 hopefuls like Pence, Hawley, and Cruz to jockey for the limelight.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), another potential 2024 candidate, has objected to this latest attempt to nullify the results of the presidential election. This dividing line is likely to play a role in the 2024 Republican presidential primary as candidates situate themselves along the Trump axis that has realigned the party.

Cotton isnt the only Republican senator opposing this effort. Previous reporting has indicated that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Whip John Thune are both opposed to splintering the Republican caucus in a vote that will be seen as either defying Trump or fully rejecting the legitimacy of the election. As Cameron Peters wrote for Vox, Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, and outgoing Sen. Pat Toomey all released fierce statements pushing back against the doomed but alarmingly undemocratic scheme to reject the Biden electors.

According to CBS News, the full list of Republican senators supporting certification is:

Toomeys statement castigated the objecting senators: A fundamental, defining feature of a democratic republic is the right of people to elect their own leaders. The effort by Senators Hawley, Cruz and others to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election ... directly undermines this right.

He goes on to reject the specious reasoning offered up by the offending senators, arguing that allegations of fraud by a losing campaign cannot justify overturning an election.

Hawley fired back at Toomey in an email to his colleagues telling the senior member to avoid putting words in each others mouths and wrote that instead of debating the issue by press release, perhaps we could have a debate on the Senate floor. Notably, Hawley was the first to issue a press release on the subject.

In a Monday tweet, President Donald Trump deemed the group supporting certification the Surrender Caucus, claiming they will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective. Trump also specifically called out Cotton, warning him that Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!

Its a clear shot across the bow to any other 2024 hopefuls considering speaking out in favor of certification. The message is clear: If a longtime Trump ally like Cotton can be dropped so easily, so can anyone else.

Correction, January 6: A previous version of this article mischaracterized Sen. James Lankfords position on the election certification. The wording of a recent op-ed by Lankford prompted some confusion, as he stated that the Constitution and the law requires him to accept the states final decision. But he said on Twitter on Wednesday that he is prepared to object if Democrats do not acquiesce to the creation of an electoral commission.

Support Vox's explanatory journalism

Every day at Vox, we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you, and our audience around the world, with information that empowers you through understanding. Voxs work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles, videos, and podcasts to all who need them. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today, from as little as $3.

Excerpt from:
Hawley, Cruz, and other Republican senators plan to reject the Electoral College election certification - Vox.com