In a press release on Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’s discussed options with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to prevent outgoing President Donald Trump from taking military actions — including nuclear strikes — during the final two weeks of his term.
Pelosi said she spoke with Gen. Mark Milley on Friday morning “to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike.”
“The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Also on Friday, Pelosi again called on Trump's cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the president from office. She said that she and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have placed calls to Vice President Mike Pence regarding invoking the amendment but have not spoken to him.
She also threatened to open an impeachment inquiry against Trump should his cabinet not invoke the 25th Amendment.
"Nearly fifty years ago, after years of enabling their rogue President, Republicans in Congress finally told President Nixon that it was time to go," Pelosi wrote. "Today, following the President’s dangerous and seditious acts, Republicans in Congress need to follow that example and call on Trump to depart his office – immediately. If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action."
Pelosi's statement comes two days after thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, briefly interrupting the Electoral College tally. Five people died in the riots, including a Capitol police officer.