Pelosi: Military can stop Trump nuclear launch
It would be illegal to launch a nuclear attack for no reason or as a disproportionate response to a military provocation.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is telling fellow Democrats that the nation’s top military officer has told her there are steps in place that would prevent President Donald Trump from firing nuclear weapons.
Pelosi is holding a conference call with House Democrats about what they should do about Trump doing his waning days in office, including the possibility of impeachment. Democrats and many Republicans blame Trump for this week’s deadly assault on the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters, and many say they are worried that Trump might try something irrational.
Before Friday’s conference call, Pelosi told her colleagues that she had asked Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about preventing Trump from initiating a nuclear strike. A person familiar with Friday’s call says Pelosi has told them that Milley has told her there are precautions in place that would prevent such an action by Trump.
The president has sole authority in the U.S. government to order the launch of a nuclear weapon. But if a military commander were to determine, on advice of his lawyers, that such an order was illegal, then the order could be refused.
It would be illegal to launch a nuclear attack for no reason or as a disproportionate response to a military provocation.
The person described Friday’s conference call on condition of anonymity because the call was limited to House Democrats.
Meanwhile, a leading centrist Democratic senator says it seems unlikely that President Donald Trump can be quickly removed from office. But West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin isn’t ruling out action against GOP senators who led the effort to thwart President-elect Joe Biden’s win because he says that helped encourage pro-Trump rioters to attack the Capitol.
Manchin says in an interview that he’s heard Vice President Mike Pence is not likely to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. He also says he’s seen no evidence of enough Senate GOP support to oust Trump if the House impeaches him.
Manchin says that while he favors removing Trump as soon as possible, “We don’t need any more theater.” He says lawmakers should defer to President-elect Joe Biden’s need for the Senate to focus on confirming his Cabinet. And he says Twitter should bar Trump from its platform.
Manchin says GOP Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas both knew they had no chance of persuading Congress to nullify Biden’s electoral votes this week. He says their efforts “facilitated” rioters who swarmed the Capitol. And he says other Republicans who voted with them should also be held responsible.
Manchin stopped short of saying Hawley and Cruz should be expelled from the Senate.
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