By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


Citing President Trump’s incitement of last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, 8th District Democrat Elissa Slotkin says she will support the article of impeachment against him.

The House sped ahead Monday with plans to oust Trump from office, warning he is a threat to democracy and pushing the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly in an extraordinary effort to remove Trump in the final days of his presidency. Trump faces a single charge -- “incitement of insurrection” – after the deadly Capitol riot in an impeachment resolution that the House will begin debating Wednesday.

In an editorial published Monday in the Detroit Free Press, Slotkin said Trump had, “encouraged supporters to use violence to overturn the results of a democratic election” and that “Accountability is required.” She added that she didn’t “take this step lightly” and had “spent the weekend talking with members of Congress, local elected officials, friends and 8th district residents.” She said while “Some of those conversations with my Republican colleagues were particularly hard” she tried to ground herself in the facts and laws.

“The definition of an insurrection is a violent uprising against a government,” she said. “Last Wednesday, the president incited domestic terrorists and an insurrection against the constitutional rule of law. His oath to protect and defend the Constitution was broken, a co-equal branch of government was terrorized, and five people died.”

Slotkin called such actions “beyond the pale” and that despite the transfer of power approaching on January 20th, she didn’t believe it nullified the need for accountability. “The use of violence in American politics cannot be tolerated, and if we sweep it under the rug it will simply keep happening over and over again. It will become a regular tool to meter out winners and losers. For this reason, in addition to supporting a vote on impeachment, I also support the censure of any elected official, federal or local, who similarly incites violence.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is summoning lawmakers back to Washington for votes, and Democrats aren’t the only ones who say Trump needs to go. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, joined GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska over the weekend in calling for Trump to “go away as soon as possible.”

Pending impeachment, Democrats called on Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke their constitutional authority under the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office before Inauguration Day. Their Democrats’ House resolution was blocked by Republicans. However, the full House is to hold a roll call vote on it Tuesday, and it is expected to pass. After that, Pelosi said Pence will have 24 hours to respond. Next would be the impeachment proceedings.

Pence has given no indication he is ready to proceed on a course involving the 25th Amendment. He and Trump met late Monday for the first time since the Capitol attack, a senior administration official said. Trump and Pence had a “good conversation” in the Oval Office discussing the week ahead, and they pledged to continue working for the remainder of their terms, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

No member of the Cabinet has publicly called for Trump to be removed from office though the 25th Amendment.

In that light, Slotkin called it “unbelievable” that she found herself in a position to vote a second time to impeach a sitting President and that she wished for our nation, and especially her mid-Michigan, that impeachment was once again the issue before Congress. “There are so many other things we must work on that have an impact on peoples’ pocketbooks and their kids –– especially in the midst of a once-in-a-generation global pandemic.”

However, Slotkin, who previously served as a Central Intelligence Agency analyst and Department of Defense official, said that it had been her “guiding principle” while in national security, and now in Congress, that there were simply some things that go beyond politics, “They are about preserving the sacred rights afforded to each of our citizens in our founding documents. History has come for all of us in elected office, and our actions in these tense days will be remembered, one way or another.”

Meanwhile, Slotkin will hold a tele-town hall Tuesday at 6:30pm to speak directly with constituents about last week’s armed riots at the U.S. Capitol, and her position on pending impeachment proceedings coming before the House for consideration this week. That link is below.