Our Hoover colleague, General James Mattis, gave a magnificent summary of the events of Wednesday, January 6.
“Today’s violent assault on our Capitol, an effort to subjugate American democracy by mob rule, was fomented by Mr. Trump. His use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice. Our Constitution and our Republic will overcome this stain and We the People will come together again in our never-ending effort to form a more perfect Union, while Mr. Trump will deservedly be left a man without a country.”
Yesterday’s events make it clear that the Donald Trump Presidency must end now. The Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment, and the House should simultaneously proceed with impeachment, followed by a quick conviction in the Senate.
There are legal and procedural questions, but if our leaders are committed to defending our Constitution they should proceed and confront those issues as they arise. President Trump can do great damage in two weeks. Many honorable government officials will oppose questionable decisions but it is not fair to put this burden on them. The absence of a clear chain of command could paralyze the United States if faced with a real crisis, and Vice-President Pence is far more trustworty than President Trump. Some powers, such as pardons, require no cooperation of honorable government officials. The chaos in the Executive Branch will surely harm the transition process. It is the job of the Cabinet and Congress to remove him from office, and our job as Americans to remind them of their duty to defend the Constitution.
I invite my colleagues at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace to join me in this call for removing Donald Trump from the Presidency. I list their names below.
Dr. Kenneth L. Judd
Paul H. Bauer Senior Fellow
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.
Hoover Fellows who have endorsed this statement
Prof. Thomas Sargent, Senior Fellow and NYU
Melvyn Krauss, Senior Fellow Emeritus
Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow
Robert Hall, Senior Fellow
Charles McClure, Senior Fellow Emeritus
Markos Kounalakis, Visiting Fellow
Yvonne Chiu, National Fellow
Bertrand Patenaude, Research Fellow
Timothy Kane, Research Fellow
Terry Moe, Senior Fellow
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Senior Fellow Emeritus
Douglas Rivers, Senior Fellow