Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from the presidency just two days after the January 6, 2021 insurrection. The top House Republican, in a call with his leadership, rejected that path, lamenting it would take too long.
On the January 8 call an aide tells McCarthy, “I think the options that have been cited by the Democrats so far are the 25th Amendment, which is not exactly an elegant solution here,” CNN reports.
“That takes too long too. It could go back to the House, right?” McCarthy replies.
“Correct. If the President were to submit a letter overruling the Cabinet and the vice president, two-thirds vote in the House and the Senate to overrule the President. So it’s kind of an armful,” the aide agrees.
McCarthy, as has been previously reported, also criticized Trump on the call, saying, “What the President did is atrocious and totally wrong.”
In a rare moment of actual leadership, McCarthy also said he wanted a “smooth transition” of the presidency.
“I do think the impeachment divides the nation further and continues the fight even greater. That’s why I want to reach out to Biden. I wanted the President to meet with Biden; that’s not going to happen,” McCarthy said. “I want to see about us meeting with Biden, sitting down, make a smooth transition to show that, and continue to keep those statements going.”
CNN published the audio from a New York Times report.