The Democrats on Monday (January 11) introduced the impeachment article in the House of Representatives against outgoing United States (US) President Donald Trump, news agency AFP reported.
The resolution calls on US Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office.
The development comes hours after the Democrats gave an ultimatum to Pence on the question of removing Trump, warning that they were slated to go ahead with the unprecedented second impeachment of Trump in the last few days of his term.
Even as the Democrats unveiled a single article of impeachment charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection", the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a copy of a resolution, calling on Pence to act.
Accusing Trump of encouraging "rioters and insurrectionists to 'march on the Capitol' and 'fight'" last Wednesday, the resolution seeks Pence to "declare what is obvious to a horrified nation: that the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office".
It also charges Trump with "at least 3 attempts to intervene in the lawful vote counting and certification process in Georgia".
If no action is taken on the resolution, Democrats have signalled their intention to impeach President Trump instead.
The impeachment resolution cites Trump's repeated unsubstantiated claims that he won the November elections, his speech in Washington on the day of the riot, and his plea with Georgia's top voting official to "find" more Republican votes even after the tally had been finalised, the BBC reported.
"In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States," it said.
(With inputs from agencies)
(To download our E-paper please click here. The publishers permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
