U.S. Vice President, Mike Pence, is not be invoking the 25th Amendment to force President Donald Trump out of office, the New York Times has reported.
Pence has come under pressure from democrats and some Republicans to invoke the constitutional provision which allows for swift removal of a sitting U.S. president.
Already, two U.S. cabinet members have resigned in protest over Trump’s rhetoric which they said fueled the invasion of Congress on January 6.
While Pence has not spoken publicly about invoking the mechanism, never used before in US history, the newspaper cited a person close to the vice president saying he is against the radical move.
“This is an emergency of the highest magnitude,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“By inciting sedition, as he did yesterday, he must be removed from office.”
The New York Times said Pence’s stance is supported by several cabinet members, whose backing would be necessary to carry out a 25th Amendment removal.
The newspaper said those officials “viewed the effort as likely to add to the current chaos in Washington rather than deter it.”
Meanwhile, Democrats in the US House of Representatives said that if the 25th Amendment is not invoked they will move quickly to impeach Trump.
“We have a limited period of time in which to act,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, who led the successful impeachment of Trump a year ago, before the president was ultimately acquitted by the Republican-led Senate.
“I support bringing articles of impeachment directly to the House floor,” he said in a statement.
