A senior GOP aide said Tuesday that House Republicans are not whipping votes against impeachment.
“House Republican leadership doesn’t plan to tell its members to vote against impeaching President Trump,” The Hill reported, citing the GOP aide.
The report noted that there was also no effort in dissuading Republicans to back the Democrat-led resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
Pence announced Tuesday that he would not be invoking the 25th Amendment, underscoring how such a move would be unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) said she supports impeaching Trump for “summon[ing] the mob” that breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“On January 6, 2021, a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic,” Cheney said in a statement.
“Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing,” the Republican said. “None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
“I will vote to impeach the president,” she concluded.
Following her announcement, Republican lawmakers called for Cheney to resign her position as the House Republican Conference chair, The Daily Wire reported.
“I don’t think she should be the chair of the Republican conference anymore,” said Chair the House Freedom Caucus Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ). “The reality is she’s not representing the conference; she’s not representing the Republican ideals.”
“When Representative Cheney came out for impeachment today, she failed to consult with the Conference, failed to abide by the spirit of the rules of the Republican Conference, and ignored the preferences of Republican voters,” Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) echoed. “She is weakening our conference at a key moment for personal political gain and is unfit to lead. She must step down as Conference Chair.”
On Monday, House Democrats released a single article of impeachment against the president for allegedly inciting what they claimed was an “insurrection” at the Capitol, The Daily Wire reported.
Trump “willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol,” the article of impeachment alleges. “Incited by President Trump, a mob unlawfully breached the Capitol, injured law enforcement personnel, interfered with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the election results, and engaged in violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts.”
At the “Save America Rally” that preceded the riot at the Capitol, Trump told supporters to “peacefully” march to the Capitol and “cheer” on the members of Congress who were objecting to the certification of the Electoral College vote.
“… We’re going to walk down to the Capitol — and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,” Trump told supporters. “Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.”
“We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated. Lawfully slated,” the president claimed.
“I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” Trump added. “Today, we will see whether Republicans stand strong for the integrity of our elections.”
Related: Key Voters Have Little Appetite For Impeachment, Fear Big Tech Censorship, Internal Memo Shows