What Colorado Lawmakers Say About Attempts to Remove President Trump From Office

On Monday morning, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced two measures designed to remove President Donald Trump from office for his role in inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday. The first was a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and have Trump’s Cabinet oust him, which House Republicans blocked. They also presented a new article of impeachment against Trump, charging him with “inciting violence against the government of the United States.”

“The president’s threat to America is urgent, and so too will be our action,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday.

Despite Republicans stymying the initial effort to pass a resolution asking Pence to intervene using the 25th Amendment, the House is still expected to have a full vote on the measure, likely on Tuesday. If the resolution passes, which Democratic leaders indicated they were confident it would, and Pence doesn’t act swiftly to remove Trump, the Democratic caucus plans to move forward with impeachment proceedings later in the week.

While he has not spoken publicly, Pence has indicated he is reticent to utilize the 25th Amendment. That means impeachment efforts will likely take place, and Democrats believe they have enough votes to ultimately impeach Trump. “There may well be a vote on impeachment on Wednesday,” said House Minority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, a representative from Maryland.

From there, Trump would be forced to stand trial in the Senate, and a 60-vote majority would be needed to convict and remove him from office. It is unclear how many Republicans would be willing to sentence Trump and current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that it would be unlikely that any trial would be finished before President-elect Joe Biden officially takes office on January 20. Still, some have noted that impeaching Trump, even after the inauguration, would rob him of certain benefits afforded to former presidents, including an annual $200,000 pension, up to $1 million for annual security and travel expenses, and lifetime protection from the Secret Service—all paid for by taxpayers. If impeached, the Senate could then disqualify Trump from running for federal office again.

The Colorado congressional delegation will play a major role in what could be a crazy week to come. Here, we rounded up what each of our state lawmakers has said about Trump’s conduct and the efforts to get him out of office.

Senator Michael Bennet: The Democratic Senator told 9News he believes the 25th Amendment would the most effective way to remove the president because an impeachment trial would likely not be finished before Trump’s term was up in a few weeks. In a January 8 opinion column for the Colorado Sun, Bennet said that if the vice president fails to invoke the 25th Amendment, he’ll “support any effort to impeach the president and uphold the rule of law—including steps beyond January 20 if required.”

Senator John Hickenlooper: The former Colorado governor was just sworn into office on January 3. In an opinion column for the Colorado Sun last week, Hickenlooper said, “President Trump is on his way out, but over the next 13 days I’d support any option that could remove him from power faster and take away the media spotlight he so desperately craves.”

Representative Diana DeGette (D, District 1): Colorado’s longest-serving representative presided over the first impeachment of Donald Trump in December 2019. She helped draft the new articles of impeachment that were brought forth by the House of Representatives on Monday and also supports the use of the 25th Amendment.

Representative Joe Neguse (D, District 2): The Democratic congressman is on the Judiciary Committee, which would oversee any impeachment proceedings. He tweeted yesterday, “If inciting an armed insurrection is not impeachable, then nothing is. [Trump] must be impeached.”

Representative Lauren Boebert (R, District 3): The recently sworn in Republican congresswoman has been one of Trump’s most prominent supporters during her short tenure in Washington D.C. Shortly before Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, she was one of the group of Republicans challenging electoral college votes from Arizona. She tweeted this weekend saying, “Hatred for Trump and his supporters is what unites the Democrat Party. That’s why they are moving forward with impeachment. They need him. Don’t you see?”

Representative Ken Buck (R, District 4): The Republican, who recently stepped down as chair of the Colorado Republican Party, condemned the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, but has asked President-elect Joe Biden to step in and stop Democrats from moving forward with a second impeachment of Trump.

Representative Doug Lamborn (R, District 5): Along with Boebert, the Republican lawmaker voted not to certify the Electoral College votes last week. He has not publicly indicated a position on a second impeachment but did condemn the attack on the Capitol.

Representative Jason Crow (D, District 6): The second-term congressman was one of the prosecutors in Trump’s impeachment trial last year. The former Army ranger has also been a leading voice in calling for an investigation into how security failed during the attack of the U.S. Capitol. He has said he thinks Trump needs to be removed from office using either the 25th Amendment or impeachment.

Representative Ed Perlmutter (D, District 7): In a Colorado Sun opinion column last week, the Democratic lawmaker said, “While the focus must remain on January 20 and the beginning of the Biden–Harris administration, I am considering all constitutional options to remove Trump from office.” He went on to say that the 25th Amendment would be the most effective way to do that.