WASHINGTON (AP) – Two Republican senators now say President Donald Trump should resign because support for the attempt to accuse him a second time is gaining momentum in his last days in office, following the deadly riot at the Capitol by a violent crowd of Trump supporters.
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey joins Alaska on Sunday, Lisa Murkowski, asking Trump to “resign and leave as soon as possible.” Murkowski, who has long expressed her dismay over Trump’s behavior in office, told the Anchorage Daily News on Friday that Trump simply “needs to get out.”
Toomey said that although he believes Trump committed impeccable offenses to encourage loyalists in the Capitol siege on Wednesday, he did not think there was enough time for the accusation to play. Toomey said resignation was “the best way forward, the best way to get this person in the rearview mirror for us.” He was not optimistic that Trump would retire before his term ends on January 20.
The White House made no immediate comment Sunday.
The house seems determined to act despite the short timeline.
Late Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California, sent a letter to her colleagues reiterating that Trump should be held accountable. She told her caucus, which is now spread over a two-week recess, to ‘be prepared to return to Washington this week’.
“It is absolutely essential that those who committed the assault on our democracy be held accountable,” Pelosi wrote. “Recognition must be given that the desecration was instigated by the president.”
Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranked House Democrat, said “it may be Tuesday, Wednesday before the action is taken, but I think it will be taken this week.” Clyburn, DS.C., said he was concerned that a Senate hearing could divert attention from the process of confirming the presidential nominees, Joe Biden.
Clyburn said Biden needed the ‘100 days to launch his agenda, and perhaps we’ll send the articles to the Senate for a hearing a while later.
He said lawmakers “will take the vote that we should take in the House” and that Pelosi “will make the decision when it’s the best time” to send them to the Senate.
Republican leader Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell has said an indictment could begin on January 20.
Supporters of the new Democratic attempt to beat Trump’s presidential record – for the second time and days before his term ends – with the indelible sign of accusation. Rep. David Cicilline, DR.I, a leader of the House’s attempt to draft indictments – or charges – accusing Trump of inciting the uprising, said on Saturday his group had grown to 185 fellow citizens.
Legislators planned to formally introduce the proposal in the House on Monday, where articles of indictment should emerge.
If the articles are passed by the House, they could then be handed over to the Senate for a hearing, with senators acting as judges who will ultimately vote whether Trump is acquitted or convicted. If convicted, Trump will be removed from office and succeeded by the vice president.
The possible complication of the indictment decision is what it means for Biden and the beginning of his presidency. While reiterating that he has long considered Trump unfit for office, he on Friday dropped a question about accusation and said what Congress is doing is that they should decide. ‘
A violent and largely white crowd of Trump supporters overwhelmed police, broke through security lines and ran through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to disperse while placing the final, formal attack on Biden’s victory over Trump in Electoral College.
The crowd rose to the dome-shaped symbol of American democracy after a rally near the White House, where Trump reiterated his false allegations that the election had been stolen from him and encouraged his supporters to go to the Capitol.
Five people, including a Capitol police officer, were killed as a result of the siege.
The outrage over the attack and Trump’s role in inciting it has limited a divisive, chaotic presidency like few others in the country’s history. It’s less than two weeks before Trump takes office, but Democrats have made it clear they do not want to wait that long.
Trump, has few fellow Republicans who speak out in his defense. He became increasingly isolated in the White House as he was abandoned in the wake of the riot by many associates, prominent Republicans and so far, two cabinet members – both women.
Toomey appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and NBC’s “Meet the Press”. Clyburn was on “Fox News Sunday” and CNN.
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Superville reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Associated Press authors Alexandra Jaffe, Lisa Mascaro and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.