The US capitol, which recently was stormed by Trump supporters, which include groups like Proud boys and Patriot prayers, had not seen such chaos and rampage since 1814. The US political leadership had been left aghast, and embarrassed by the capitol storming. Many observers had believed that the final days of Trump Presidency would pan out to be chaotic, but few could have gauged that such a development could actually precipitate at the US capitol.

As the US Congress with help from the Capitol police, gradually took the situation under control, while certifying Joe Biden as the US President, the representatives from the Democratic Party, joined by many from the Republican representatives are calling for removal of Trump.

The voices from the GOP or the Republican Party are fewer compared to those from the Democratic Party. In the Democratic Party, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker and Chuck Schumer are leading the rally and the calls for the ouster of the outgoing President Trump before the inauguration of Biden on January 20. Many other prominent leaders like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have called for invoking the 25^th Amendment by Mike Pence. The Senator from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski was the first Republican Senator asking for the removal of Trump. The Republican governor of Vermont, Phil Scott has asked for the removal of Trump either by his Cabinet or by the Congress. (Scott has recently been sworn in for his third term.) Larry Hogan, a prominent member of the GOP and the governor of Maryland has also asked for Trump’s resignation or his removal. Hogan had been critical of Trump’s handling of the Coronavirus pandemic, especially in the light of the newly discovered mutants, and the issues of immigration.

Also see: New Mutants of Coronavirus

Apart from former President, George W Bush, Adam Kinzinger was one of the first Republicans to recognize Biden as the rightful President. He has also tried to debunk the election fraud conspiracies and has asked the Cabinet to invoke the 25^th Amendment. Nanci Pelosi, the House speaker had recently stated that the House would move to impeach the President, if he did not immediately resign after the US capitol storming by his supporters. In a letter to the members of the house, she invoked the impeachment of Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal describing the actions of Trump as a horrific assault on democracy. Considering the chaotic and the unpredictable nature of Trump in the Foreign policy and the military domains, Pelosi stated that she had spoken with General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about preventing military hostilities being initiated by an unstable President. She further stated that she had also spoken with General Milley about prevention of the access of launch codes by Trump. A spokesperson for Gen. Milley, Col Dave Butler stated that the General had interacted with the House speaker over the latter’s queries over processes including the Nuclear command Authority. Some of the officials from DoD had expressed anger over the Congress leaders trying to meddle in the Pentagon affairs.

Also Read: Which archetype of US foreign policy might Biden follow

Apart from the representatives in Congress, the business leaders and their associations are also concerned and appalled at the storming of the US capitol. One of the most prominent business groups in the US, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) recently called onto the Vice President Mike Pence to consider removing Trump from the office. Interesting to note is that the NAM, which gave one of the strongest political statement, is a group leaning towards the Republican Party. The group had highlighted the breakup between the business community and the President acting as self-style CEO. NAM in its communication to Mike Pence stated that invoking the 25^th Amendment should be seriously considered to preserve democracy. The NAM was established in 1895 and represents small and large manufacturers in all the 50 states. The founder of Yale University’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld stated that the condemnation from the NAM is unprecedented, given that the NAM had celebrated the tax cuts, efforts to revive manufacturing and deregulation steps taken by Trump.

As of now Pence has not completely ruled out the option of invoking the 25^th Amendment to remove Trump from the office.  The 25^th Amendment is slightly different from the Impeachment as such, because the Impeachment needs to be initiated by the US congress, whereas the 25^th Amendment should be invoked by the Vice-President. Under the 25^th Amendment, ratified by the states in 1967, allows the Vice President to initiate the process of impeachment by bringing in the disability clause. Under, this clause, the Vice President begins the process if the President is found to be unable to perform his duties. Vice- President on consultation with the Cabinet can assume the role of acting President and begin the impeachment. Under the Succession Act of 1886, the members of the President’s cabinet are the direct successors to act as President in case the Vice President is unable to serve. After invoking of the disability clause by the Vice-President, upon consulting with the Cabinet, the President can defend himself against the accusations. Within 21 days, the Congress should pass the resolution with two-thirds of the votes. During this window of 21 days, Trump would remain powerless, yet retaining the title. (Under the Impeachment, the same resolution should also be passed by the Senate within 21 days by two-thirds of majority.) Since, the time window within which the Congress must ratify the impeachment is less than the remaining number of days for President Trump, many leaders consider invoking the 25^th Amendment useless. Apart from that it would involve implementing Section 4 of the 25^th Amendment, which entails declaring the President being unable to perform his duties, which has never been done before. In this regard, the White House under Trump, said in a statement that a politically motivated impeachment against a President with few days remaining of his term will only serve to further divide the country. The Republicans like Lindsey Graham, who had condemned Trump has not supported the idea of invoking the 25^th Amendment. In this context, Mike Pence has kept the option of 25^th Amendment open, whose use would be dependent on the conduct and the behaviour of Trump in the waning days of his presidency.

Summarily, even though the momentum for invoking the 25^th Amendment grows, it may not be implemented given the few days remaining for the Trump administration, and Mike Pence, who had defied Trump prior to US Congress certifying Biden’s victory, along with others, know that right now, a semblance of stability is needed prior to transition.