The opinion of removing President Donald Trump from office falls largely along party lines in Wisconsin.
In a statement the day after the unrest that occurred in and around the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday, Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump. The statement also called on Congress to address possible impeachable offenses if the 25th Amendment is not used.
Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher is taking the opposite approach, instead joining a group of seven House members in requesting President-elect Joe Biden to ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discontinue her efforts to impeach President Trump a second time. In the letter, the members of Congress called the impeachment proceedings shortly before inauguration day “as unnecessary as it is inflammatory” and suggest it would “undermine [his] priority of unifying Americans.”
As of Tuesday morning, Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson had not released a statement on the possible impeachment hearings, but joined Rep. Gallagher and Senator Baldwin in denouncing the violence that ensued at the Capitol last week.
House Democrats introduced the articles of impeachment on Monday.
LINK TO LETTER SIGNED BY REP. GALLAGHER
In the spirit of healing and fidelity to our Constitution, I am asking that @JoeBiden formally request that Speaker Pelosi discontinue her efforts to impeach President Trump a second time. pic.twitter.com/BpCouEPxiW
— Congressman Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) January 9, 2021
STATEMENT MADE BY REP. GALLAGHER DURING APPEARANCE ON FOX NEWS
Rep. Gallagher: “As for what the speaker intends to do I haven't seen the articles of impeachment. My gut tells me that is not the right approach. Right now, I think a lot of people, myself included, are weighing two things that point in different directions right now if I could just be brutally honest with you. One, is real anger over what happened, and a desire to hold people accountable – even the President himself for whatever role he played in this. Two, we need to just hold the country together – which is hanging by a thread right now – and avoid further bloodshed and violence leading up to January 20 and just try and land this plane on a peaceful transition of power. And I'd be lying to you, Steve, if I said I'd figured out the right way to balance those two things. But I think a rushed impeachment right now is not the best approach, particularly when we're just still recovering. We're still trying to ascertain all the facts and I feel like last night was the first night I slept in a full week.
