25th Amendment Resolution: How Rep. Frank Pallone Voted

HAZLET, NJ — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution asking Vice President Mike Pence invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office. Pence has already sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying he would reject invoking the 25th Amendment, according to the New York Times.

Leaders in the House plan to begin impeachment proceedings as soon as Wednesday.

U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat who represents New Jersey’s sixth congressional district, voted yes on the resolution. The move wasn’t a surprise one for Pallone, who has been a vocal critic of Trump throughout his first presidential term.

“I voted in support of a resolution calling for the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office for his role in the attack on the Capitol last week,” Pallone wrote in a tweet early Wednesday. “If the @VP fails to act, the House will vote on an article of impeachment this week.”

I voted in support of a resolution calling for the invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office for his role in the attack on the Capitol last week. If the @VP fails to act, the House will vote on an article of impeachment this week.
— Rep. Frank Pallone (@FrankPallone) January 13, 2021

The resolution, which passed 223-205, states that Trump “widely advertised and broadly encouraged” protests that led to last week’s violence and insurrection at the Capitol building, according to a report from NPR. It urges Pence to invoke his powers to declare Trump unfit for office “immediately” and assume all powers and responsibility of the presidency.

"What took place [the Capitol riot] is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable," Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said in support of the resolution. It is "very clear the president did not discharge the proper duties of office."

Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, called the resolution "misguided and inappropriate."

"The majority is asking the House to assume a power it does not have," Cole said, pointing to the power of invoking the 25th Amendment that lies with "the vice president and Cabinet alone."

If Pence does not respond to the resolution within 24 hours, according to several reports, leaders in the House plan to begin impeachment proceedings.

If that occurs, Trump would become the first president in United States history to be impeached a second time. To be removed, he will need to be convicted by the Senate.

Trump is seven days away from the end of his term, with President-elect Joe Biden set to become America’s 46th president on Jan. 20.

Pallone is a Democratic congressman who has represented New Jersey's Sixth Congressional district since 1998. The sixth district stretches from Carteret and Woodbridge into Edison, New Brunswick and down to Asbury Park. It hugs the Bayshore coastline, including towns such as Aberdeen, Matawan, Hazlet, Sea Bright and West Long Branch.