WASHINGTON (AP) – Two Republican senators now say President Donald Trump should step down as support for the drive to overthrow him a second time gains momentum in his final days in office following the deadly riot at the Capitol by a violent crowd of Trump supporters.
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey joined Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski on Sunday, calling on Trump to “resign and get out as soon as possible.” Murkowski, who has long expressed her annoyance at Trump’s conduct in office, told Anchorage Daily News Friday that Trump simply “needs to get out.”
Toomey said that while he believes Trump committed untouchable transgressions by encouraging loyalists during the siege of the Capitol on Wednesday, he didn’t think there was enough time for the impeachment process to take place. Toomey said that resignation was “the best way forward, the best way to get this person in front of us in the rearview mirror.” He was not optimistic that Trump would step down before his term ends on January 20.
The White House had no immediate response on Sunday.
Despite the short timeline, the House seems determined to take action.
Late on Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sent a letter to her colleagues reiterating that Trump should be held accountable. She told her caucus, now scattered across the country on a two-week hiatus, to “be prepared to return to Washington this week.”
“It is absolutely essential that those who have attacked our democracy be held accountable,” Pelosi wrote. “It must be recognized that this desecration was caused by the president.”
Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-placed 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 trial could distract from the process of confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s nominees.
Clyburn said one option would be to give Biden the “100 days he needs to get his agenda off the ground and maybe sometime after that we’ll send the articles” to the Senate for trial.
He said lawmakers will “take the vote we have to take in Parliament” and that Pelosi will “decide when the best time is” to send them to the Senate.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, has said an impeachment trial could begin as early as January 20 inauguration.
The new democratic attempt to stamp Trump’s presidential record – for the second time and days before his term expires – with the indelible mark of impeachment is gaining supporters. Representative David Cicilline, DR.I, a leader of the House attempt to draft impeachment articles – or indictments – accusing Trump of inciting uprising, said on Saturday his group had grown to 185 co-sponsors.
Lawmakers planned to formally submit the bill to the House of Representatives on Monday, where the impeachment articles should come from.
If passed by the House, the articles could be sent to the Senate for trial, with senators acting as jurors who will ultimately vote on whether to acquit or convict Trump. If convicted, Trump will be removed from office and succeeded by the vice president.
Potentially making that decision about impeachment difficult is what it means for Biden and the beginning of his presidency. Reiterating that he has long viewed Trump as unfit for office, Biden sidestepped a question on Friday about impeachment, saying that what Congress is doing “is up to them to decide.”
A violent and largely white crowd of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and swept through the Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to disperse as they gave final, formal details about Biden’s victory over Trump at the Electoral College.
Crowds flocked to the dome-shaped symbol of American democracy after a White House rally, where Trump reiterated his false claims that the election had been stolen from him, urging his supporters to march forcefully to the Capitol.
Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died as a result of the siege.
Outrage over the attack and Trump’s role in fueling it created a divisive, chaotic presidency like few others in the country’s history. There are less than two weeks before Trump is absent, but Democrats have made it clear they don’t want to wait that long.
Trump, has few fellow Republicans speaking out in defense. He is becoming increasingly isolated, entrenched in the White House, having been abandoned in the aftermath of the riot by many aides, leading Republicans and, so far, two cabinet members – both women.
Toomey has 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.