WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House members Friday that she called Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley to ask what was being done to prevent President Donald Trump from accessing nuclear launch codes, calling the president “unhinged.”
The California Democrat's move comes after calling for the vice president and Cabinet to remove Trump from office in the wake of his inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol on Wednesday in a deadly assault.
"This morning, I spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike," she said in a letter to House Democrats.
"As you know, there is growing momentum around the invocation of the 25th Amendment, which would allow the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to remove the President for his incitement of insurrection and the danger he still poses," Pelosi continued.
Many congressional Democrats, and at least one Republican, have called for removing the president immediately. The 25th Amendment of the Constitution allows the vice president and a majority of the executive Cabinet to force the president out by declaring him "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." In that case, the vice president would take over.
If that fails, Pelosi said Congress will move to impeach and remove Trump for his "dangerous and seditious acts."
"If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action," Pelosi said.
