South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham closed the door on using the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office for now, but he didn’t dismiss the idea entirely. He told reporters on Thursday, “I thought Joe Biden did a good job yesterday of talking about how bad this is and we need to get it behind us. I'm telling you as a Republican, I don't support an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment now. If something else happens, all options would be on the table.”
Meanwhile, House Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, could vote as soon as next week on impeaching President Trump for a second time if Trump doesn’t resign.
This comes after hundreds of the president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to evacuate and leaving five people dead.
The president has 12 days left in office. It is highly unlikely he would be removed before the transition on January 20.
But Graham’s words highlight a growing movement within the Republican party to divorce themselves from Trump and his brand of politics.
Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska told CNN he’d consider impeachment: “The House if they come together and have a process, I will definitely consider whatever articles they might move. Because as I’ve told you, I believe the president has disregarded his oath of office. He swore an oath to the American people to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. He acted against that. What he did was wicked.”
Two of Trump’s cabinet members, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy Devos, have resigned in disgust over the president’s stoking of mob violence.
But Republicans certainly aren’t unified around the idea of leaving Trumpism behind for good.
After Wednesday’s insurrection, a half dozen Senators and more than 100 House Republicans still stood by Trump’s challenge of the election results.