Thirty-seven members of the United States house of representatives have indicated interest in an article seeking to impeach President Donald Trump.
The article, whose lead sponsor is Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, accused Trump of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors”.
The move, which comes just about two weeks to the end of the Trump presidency, is the latest in the events unfolding after demonstrators stormed the US Capitol and disrupted the ratification of Joe Biden’s victory in the recent presidential election.
The protesters marched to the legislative building after a rally where they were addressed by Trump in his last push to fight defeat in the hands of Biden.
While the mob invasion was condemned, the US president told the protesters that he “loves” them and, in a statement afterwards, insisted that he “totally disagrees” with the outcome of the election.
Key officials accused him of inciting the mob attack, with federal lawmakers demanding that he be removed from office.
In the article of impeachment shared via her Twitter handle, Omar said Trump will continue to endanger US democracy if he remains in office.
“Once again, Trump has violated constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” the article reads.
“Every single hour that Donald Trump remains in office our country, our democracy, and our national security remain in danger. Congress must take immediate action to keep the people of this country safe and set a precedent that such behaviour cannot be tolerated.”
A total of 12 lawmakers were earlier listed as co-leads in the article.
However, in a subsequent tweet, Omar listed 24 additional reps as co-sponsors, bringing the total number of lawmakers who are involved in the impeachment move to 37.
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives, has urged Mike Pence, the vice-president, to invoke the 25th amendment to remove Trump from office.
“Trump has committed an assault on our nation and our people. Pence must remove him and invoke the 25th amendment. If they fail to act, we may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. Justice will be done to those who carry out these actions of sedition and cowardice,” Pelosi said in an address on Thursday.
Similarly, Chuck Schumer, senate democratic leader, has also called for the invoking of the 25th amendment, seen as a last resort to remove a defaulting president.
“What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president. This president should not hold office one day longer,” Schumer said in the statement.