In the dying days of his US presidency, a deeply isolated Donald Trump faces the threat of impeachment, a slew of resignations, and calls for his party to “end this nightmare” and remove him from office early.
As Democratic leaders demanded his resignation, Mr Trump came closer than ever to a formal concession on Thursday, hours after he incited a mob that stormed the US Capitol as Congress certified Joe Biden’s election win.
But while he says he is focused on a “smooth, orderly and seamless” transition of power, much about the remaining 12 days of his presidency appears uncertain.
And amid the ongoing turmoil, there is still a country to run as US coronavirus deaths top 361,000 and new cases continue to surge.
As speculation swirls around possible consequences for Mr Trump, here are some of the potential issues he and the US could face before the end of his term on 20 January.
An attempted early removal from office
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is leading a growing chorus of appeals for the vice president to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Mr Trump from office before Mr Biden is inaugurated.
The amendment allows a majority of the Cabinet to remove a president deemed unable to discharge his duties.
“If the vice president and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president,” Mr Schumer said.
Adopted in 1967, the amendment has so far only been invoked for presidents undergoing a surgical procedure so that power could be shifted temporarily to the vice president.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi also urged the vice president to invoke the 25th Amendment following Wednesday’s unrest, saying it was “an emergency of the highest magnitude”.
“By inciting sedition, as he did yesterday, he must be removed from office,” she said.
“While it’s only 13 days left, any day can be a horror show for America.”
Republican representative Adam Kinzinger, a frequent Trump critic within his party, said it was time to “end this nightmare”.
However, the New York Times reports Vice President Mike Pence is opposed to the move, in a stance supported by several Cabinet members whose backing would be necessary to carry out a removal.
The Times said the officials “viewed the effort as likely to add to the current chaos in Washington rather than deter it.”
That leaves the option of impeachment, which allows the president to be removed from office for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours”.
Ms Pelosi signalled on Thursday that she would likely reconvene the House to initiate impeachment proceedings if Mr Pence failed to act.
A majority of the House’s members would have to approve an impeachment resolution for a trial to be held in the Senate, with House members acting as the prosecutors and the senators as jurors.
However, with just days left in the presidency, there are doubts as to whether there is enough time to initiate and complete proceedings.
Amid the threats and speculation on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote that Mr Trump’s “best path would be to take personal responsibility and resign” if he wanted to avoid a second impeachment.
“This would be the cleanest solution since it would immediately turn presidential duties over the Mr Pence. And it would give Mr Trump agency, a la Richard Nixon, over his own fate,” the editorial said.
Mr Trump previously faced an impeachment trial but was acquitted after being accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
A slew of resignations
Trump insider Mick Mulvaney was one of the latest to quit on Thursday, indicating that a trickle of other departures may become a flood after the riots at the Capitol.
“I can’t stay here, not after yesterday,” Mr Mulvaney, who served as Mr Trump’s chief of staff before moving to Northern Ireland envoy, told CNBC television.
According to Mr Mulvaney, only fear of what might still happen in the dwindling days before Mr Biden’s inauguration holds other senior figures back.
“Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they’re worried the president might put someone worse in,” he said.
Other departures announced this week include deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger, First Lady Melania Trump’s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transport Secretary Elaine Chao.
Ms Chao, who is married to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said she quit over the “traumatic and entirely avoidable” storming of the Capitol.
“It has deeply troubled me in a way I simply cannot set aside,” she said on Thursday.
A pre-emptive pardon
Mr Trump has in recent weeks discussed the possibility of pardoning himself before leaves the presidency, Reuters reported a source as saying on Thursday, in what would be an extraordinary use of his power.
The New York Times also reported that Mr Trump had discussed a pardon with aides since the November election, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the conversations.
“In several conversations since Election Day, Mr Trump has told advisers that he is considering giving himself a pardon and, in other instances, asked whether he should and what the effect would be on him legally and politically, according to the two people,” the Times reported.
The Times said it was not clear whether Mr Trump had discussed the matter since the riots on Wednesday.
Constitutional lawyers say there is not a definitive answer on whether a president can lawfully issue a self-pardon. No president has tried it before, so the courts have not weighed in.
Meanwhile, acting US Attorney Michael Sherwin has said that no suspects in Wednesday’s riots will be ruled out – even when asked if this could include Mr Trump for urging protesters to march on the Capitol.
“We’re looking at all actors here and anyone that had a role, and the evidence fits the elements of a crime, they’re going to be charged,” he told reporters.
The day-to-day running of the country
Amongst all the chaos, Mr Trump is still tasked with leading the US during a global pandemic that has devastated the nation.
As Washington captured the world’s attention on Wednesday, the coronavirus claimed its highest US death toll yet, killing more than 4,000 Americans in a single day.
COVID-19 hospitalisations stood at 132,051, setting a record for the fourth day in a row as of late Wednesday night, a Reuters analysis of public health data showed.
The latest surge is compounded by the rapid spread of a new, more infectious COVID-19 variant that was first detected in the UK in December and has now spread to several US states, including New York.
Parts of California are being hammered by the outbreak, including metropolitan Los Angeles, pushing hospitals to their limits.
Meanwhile, employment statistics are expected to show the pandemic and accompanying government lockdowns have slammed the job market.
Just six million people across the US had received the first of two COVID-19 vaccine shots as of Thursday – well short of the 20 million vaccinations the government had vowed to administer by the end of 2020.
With AFP, Reuters.
