House Republicans won’t whip votes on impeachment, 25th Amendment

House Republican leadership doesn’t plan to tell its members to vote against impeaching President Trump or the Democrat-led resolution calling on Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office, a senior GOP aide confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.  

House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (Wyo.) told members in a conference call the impeachment vote was a “vote of conscience,” according to a source familiar with her remarks. 

The two votes come as lawmakers struggle with how to hold Trump accountable after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol last week in an attempt to prevent Congress from counting Electoral College votes and finalizing President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

A handful of Republicans are slated to join Democrats in voting in favor of both measures, though it’s unclear how many, with the resolution slated to be voted on Tuesday evening and the impeachment vote slated to take place Wednesday. 

A sizable number of GOP lawmakers have said that while they condemn Trump’s remarks that incited the violence, they feel that the impeachment vote could incite more unrest ahead of inauguration day.  

“I’m opposed to impeachment. I think at this point in time, it’s more important to focus on healing and doing a peaceful transition of power as the president himself has conceded where we are and impeachment just inflames those that believe this election has been stolen. And it’s time to move forward,” Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) told The Hill last week. 

House GOP leadership also did not whip members on how to vote on the objection to the electoral college results in key swing states last week.