HOUSE VOTES

SEIZING PRESIDENTIAL POWER: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 21), sponsored by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., calling for Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to take power as acting president by activating section 4 of the 25th amendment and declaring that President Trump is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office. Raskin said the action was needed because Trump “is not meeting the oath that he swore, to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” An opponent, Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said the resolution “is asserting power to misuse the 25th Amendment in a manner that does overturn the votes of the previous electoral college.” The vote, on Jan. 12, was 223 yeas to 205 nays.

YEAS: Chellie Pingree, D-1st District; Jared Golden, D-2nd District

IMPEACHMENT: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 24), sponsored by Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., impeaching Trump. The resolution claimed that by opposing certification of the Electoral College process for electing the next president, including actions that led to the Capitol Hill disturbance on Jan. 6, Trump “gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government, threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch.” The vote, on Jan. 13, was 232 yeas to 197 nays.

YEAS: Pingree, Golden

There were no key votes in the Senate this week.