Congressman Cohen Votes to Call on Vice President Pence to Invoke the 25th Amendment

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, tonight joined his Congressional colleagues in calling upon Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the provisions of the 25^th Amendment and remove President Trump from office.

See the Congressman's remarks during tonight's debate here.

The vote was 223 to 205.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"We have reached the point at which Donald Trump remaining in office is a threat to the security and well-being of the country. This extraordinary request from Congress for the Vice President to assume the presidency because Trump cannot perform the duties of his office is without precedent and demonstrates the dire nature of our predicament. If the Vice President declines to take our counsel in this matter, we will vote to impeach this lawless president on Wednesday for the second time. We know the eyes of the nation are on us tonight as we solemnly undertake this unfortunate but necessary obligation."

The resolution approved tonight reads in part that Trump "has demonstrated repeatedly, continuously, and spectacularly his absolute inability to discharge the most basic and fundamental powers and duties of his office, including most recently the duty to respect the legitimate results of the Presidential election, the duty to respect the peaceful transfer of democratic power under the Constitution, the duty to participate in legally defined transition activities, the duty to protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States, including the counting of Electoral College votes by Congress, the duty to protect the people of the United States and their elected representatives against domestic insurrection, mob rule, and seditious violence, and generally the duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed."