An angry mob swarmed the Capitol after Trump called on his supporters to "fight" against the certification of the election
Credit: Victor J Blue/Bloomberg
"The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy," Ms Pelosi told congressmen in her party.
Momentum for impeachment has grown among Democrats in Congress since a violent mob swarmed the building and even some Republicans have suggested they would support the move.
However, Joe Biden, the Democrat president-elect, has refused to support the move by members of his own party in Congress.
"I’ve thought for a long, long time that President Trump wasn’t fit to hold the job. That’s why I ran," he told reporters.
But he added: "What the Congress decides to do is for them to decide. But they’re going to have to be ready to hit the ground running [on January 20]."
If the political impetus remains, it is likely that the House could vote on articles of impeachment before Mr Trump’s term ends on January 20.
One of the articles of impeachment being drafted against Mr Trump accuses the president of "incitement of insurrection", according to CNN. The article is expected to be formally introduced on Monday.
A draft version of the article seen by the network accused Mr Trump of engaging in "high crimes and misdemeanours by wilfully inciting violence against the government of the United States" by encouraging a "mob" to march on the Capitol on January 6.
The article also cited Mr Trump’s phone call last week with Georgia’s Secretary of State, in which he asked him to "find" enough votes to overturn Mr Biden’s victory in the state.
As Democrats hold the majority in the House, it appears likely that Mr Trump could face the ignominy of becoming the first US president to be impeached twice.
Latest draft of the articles of impeachment that will be formally introduced on Monday includes one article: “incitement of insurrection.” Reps. Cicilline, Lieu and Raskin are taking the lead pic.twitter.com/DUaVALWgzM
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 8, 2021
If Mr Trump is impeached a second time, the next step would be a trial in the Senate which would culminate in a vote on whether to remove the president from office.
It is unlikely that Republicans, who hold 50 seats in the chamber, would vote to oust Mr Trump just days before he is due to depart the White House.
Two thirds of the Senate would need to vote to remove Mr Trump for the motion to pass.
However some Republicans have suggested they would support the measure, Ben Sasse, a Republican senator for Nebraska and a frequent critic of the president, said he would “definitely consider whatever [impeachment] articles they might move, because I believe the president has disregarded his oath of office.”
“He swore an oath to the American people to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution — he acted against that,” Mr Sasse told CBS News. “What he did was wicked.”
Other senior Republicans warned that moving forward with impeachment proceedings risk dividing the country further.
Impeaching the President with just 12 days left will only divide our country more. I've reached out to President-elect Biden today & plan to speak to him about how we must work together to lower the temperature & unite the country to solve America’s challenges.
My full statement pic.twitter.com/EkkmOAkb7i
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) January 8, 2021
Senator Lindsey Graham said: "If Speaker Pelosi pushes impeachment in the last days of the Trump presidency it will do more harm than good. I’m hopeful President-elect Biden sees the damage that would be done from such action".
Ms Pelosi said she would prefer Vice President Mike Pence and Mr Trump’s cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment in the US Constitution to forcibly relieve Mr Trump of his duties.
However the Democrat said that as of Friday afternoon, she had yet to hear from Mr Pence.
Ms Pelosi cited the example of Richard Nixon, when the Republican’s own party encouraged the president to resign rather than face impeachment, as she appealed to Republicans in Congress to join the move to impeach Mr Trump.
On Friday night a White House spokesman said a "politically motivated impeachment against a president with 12 days remaining in his term will only serve to further divide our great country."
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