Pelosi Readies Democrats for Trump Impeachment Days Before Biden Inauguration

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is readying Democrats for a lightning-fast second impeachment of President Donald Trump this week that risks consuming Congress in a bitter political fight just as President-elect Joe Biden’s administration is attempting to get off the ground.

With a groundswell of anger among Democrats over the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 by a mob encouraged by Trump, Pelosi said Sunday night the House would take up a resolution to impeach Trump for the second time in less than two years unless Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment this week to remove Trump from office.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Holds Weekly News Conference

Nancy PelosiPhotographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

“In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” Pelosi said in a letter to House Democrats. An article of impeachment accusing Trump of “Incitement of Insurrection” over his actions encouraging the mob that staged the deadly assault has drawn more than 200 Democratic co-sponsors and is set for introduction on Monday.

One issue Democrats will have to weigh in determining the course ahead is Biden’s agenda. With the Senate in recess, any trial for Trump could not begin until Jan. 20 at the earliest without the backing of all senators. And once a trial is under way, the Senate couldn’t take up other business, including Biden’s cabinet nominees and top-priority legislation such as boosting stimulus payments for most Americans.