Montco's Rep. Madeleine Dean Leading Trump Removal Effort

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Montgomery County's U.S. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean has joined Sen. Robert Casey and at least two others members of the House of Representatives in urging the use of the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office.

The Pennsylvania contingent among a growing number of Congressional members contending Trump is not fit to complete his term following Wednesday's deadly Capitol riot that left several dead, and which both Democrats and many Republicans have said Trump incited. Dean appeared on national television to make her argument.

"I can think of no worse scenario that would be demand us to invoke the 25th amendment," Dean told Judy Woodruff on PBS NewsHour Thursday. "He is unfit to discharge his duties as president, as horrifically demonstrated yesterday...He is working to tear down our democracy. He is a threat to our peaceful existence, and the world is watching."

The 25th amendment, which has never been exercised, would require Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to agree that Trump was unfit and to take control. The hypothetical would make Pence the shortest-sitting president in history.

Some Democrats have also expressed interest in bringing impeachment proceedings against Trump, though such proceedings would not remove Trump from office before he is due to leave on Jan. 20 when Joe Biden is inaugurated.

Democratic U.S. representatives Mike Doyle of Allegheny County and Mary Gay Scanlon of Delaware County have also expressed support for the 25th Amendment, along with hundreds of other members of Congress and dozens of senators.

Dean was among hundreds of representatives who sheltered on Capitol Hill or were evacuated during the riots Wednesday, as mobs disrupted the certification of the Electoral College vote naming Joe Biden president. The special joint session of Congress reconvened overnight to certify the vote.

>>'Deeply Saddened', Rep. Dean Is Safe, Evacuated From U.S. Capitol

Pence was publicly repudiated by Trump in a since-deleted message on Twitter, in which the president condemns his longtime ally for fulfilling his Constitutional duty as Vice President to preside over the certification of the vote.

Casey minced no words in calling for the 25th Amendment to be invoked. He said Trump "inspired, encouraged and emboldened" domestic terrorists to attack the U.S. Capitol in an attempted coup.

"President Trump is a threat to our domestic and national security," Casey said. "It is self-evident that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. I call on Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and begin the process of removing the powers of the presidency from Donald Trump."

Doyle and Scanlon voiced support for the move via Twitter. Dean was one of 19 members of the House Judiciary Committee who signed a letter asking Pence to use 25th Amendment powers.

"The world watched aghast as insurrectionists, who had been egged on by the President, threatened the safety of elected officials and staff and destroyed public property as they stormed and occupied both the House and Senate chambers bringing our democracy to a halt," the letter stated. "At one point, the insurrectionists even removed an American flag flying at the Capitol and replaced it with a Trump flag."

With reporting from Patch correspondent Eric Heyl