US House passes resolution asking Pence to remove Trump

The US House of Representatives, which has initiated the process to impeach Donald Trump over the unprecedented Capitol Hill attack, on Wednesday passed a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.The resolution, which calls upon Pence to mobilise the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office, was voted by 223 to 205 votes.The voting was mostly on party lines, with one Republican voting in favour of the resolution and another five abstaining.

Democrats moved forward on an impeachment vote after a effort to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to remove Trump was rejected by Pence on Tuesday evening. "I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution," Pence said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Under our Constitution, the 25th Amendment is not a means of punishment or usurpation. Invoking the 25th Amendment in such a manner would set a terrible precedent,” the US Vic President said in a letter to Pelosi. 

The 25th Amendment, adopted more than 50 years ago in the wake of President John F Kennedy’s assassination, provides a mechanism for the succession of the president for his or her replacement in the event he or she proves unfit to serve.Under the amendment, the vice president and a majority of either the Cabinet or some other body designated by Congress may remove the president from office.