Following the explosive New York Times op-ed from an alleged Trump insider, Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has come on record stating that it may be time to remove the President. This could be accomplished through the 25th Amendment, which allows for the Cabinet to hold a vote if they believe the President is unfit for duty.
Sen. Warren seemed particularly disturbed by the allegations made in The New York Times op-ed piece. According to the anonymous author, there is an active and potentially organized cabal in the White House that has been working to undermine and restrain the President. “Fear: Trump in the White House,” a forthcoming book by famed journalist Bob Woodward, has backed these claims up with testimonies from people claiming that they have swiped documents off of Trump’s desk and taken other actions to control the President.
Sen. Warren attacked this directly, arguing: “The Constitution provides for a procedure whenever the Vice President and senior officials think the President can’t do his job. It does not provide that senior officials go around the President — take documents off his desk, write anonymous op-eds…”
There’s a popular narrative emerging among President Trump’s critics and opponents: aides shouldn’t be circumventing the President, and if they feel that he is so incompetent that they must control his impulses, they should take a step towards removing him. Importantly, many Democrats have shied away from calling the President incompetent, instead using the op-ed to suggest that that’s what Trump insiders believe. As Warren put it: “Either they [Trump’s aides] think that the President is not capable of doing his job in which case they follow the rules in the Constitution, or they feel that the President is capable of doing his job, in which case they follow what the President tells them to do.”
Warren is running for her second term in the Senate this year. She’ll likely win without too much of a struggle. Warren is among the most popular Senators, with a 53 percent approval rating among Massachusetts voters. Only 36 percent of voters disapprove. Warren has been a favorite target of President Trump, who has called her “Pocahontas,” mocking her claimed Native American heritage.
However, many believe that Warren has her sights set on a higher office, and in fact, the highest office. Warren’s name has been among the more common and popular names to challenge Trump for the presidency in 2020. Warren’s comments may well be part of an effort to get herself in the national spotlight.
A House Democrat, Luis Gutierrez, has also called for the President to resign. During a floor speech, Rep. Gutierrez (IL) urged the President to step aside and also sent a letter to the White House. The Congressman believes that Trump is guilty of acts that would be grounds for impeachment, but hopes to avoid the strife that would come with impeaching a president. Gutierrez accused the President of running a “vast criminal enterprise” and in his letter, wrote: “Your personal disgrace will be temporary. The lasting damage to the United States of bringing us all down with you will last decades, if not longer. Therefore, for the good of the country, I ask that you resign your office immediately.”
Meanwhile, the White House has been urging the unknown author of the op-ed to resign.
