KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II announced Friday that he has joined an effort to impeach President Trump for a second time before he leaves office Jan. 20.
Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat and former Kansas City, Missouri, mayor, said on social media that “it is clear that the President needs to be removed from office.”
Cleaver seemed to indicate that his preference would be for Vice President Mike Pence, who invoked the Constitution in explaining why he couldn’t unilaterally reject electors from select states during Wednesday’s interrupted Electoral College certification process, and the Cabinet to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump as unfit.
“Unfortunately, the Cabinet does not appear to have the will to invoke the 25th Amendment,” Cleaver said. “For that reason I have signed on to these Articles of Impeachment. We should begin the process immediately.
It is clear that the President needs to be removed from office. Unfortunately, the Cabinet does not appear to have the will to invoke the 25th Amendment. For that reason I have signed on to these Articles of Impeachment. We should begin the process immediately. https://t.co/96qJYbpdPt
— Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (@repcleaver) January 8, 2021
In the immediate aftermath of a riot that left five people dead Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol, including one Capitol Police officer, some Cabinet members informally discussed removing Trump.
Instead, two Cabinet members, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, announced their resignations.
Three other Cabinet members had previously resigned or been forced out, leaving an acting Attorney General, acting Secretary of Defense and acting Secretary of Homeland Security.
Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat who represents Johnson County, announced Wednesday that she supported invoking the 25th Amendment.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced Friday that unless Trump resigns, impeachment proceedings will begin next week.
Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019, becoming only the third U.S. president to be impeached.
He was acquitted in a vote largely along party lines by the Senate in February 2020.
Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were the other two presidents to be impeached. No president has been impeached twice.
Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, said earlier Friday “there is no way we’re going to impeach the president,” citing the fact that he leaves office in less than two weeks.
“There’s not enough time to do it,” Blunt told 41 Action News.
