Republicans haven't strayed too far from Trump
But if Pence, in his bid to keep Trump onside until then, is counting on an outpouring of support from his old colleagues on Capitol Hill, he will be disappointed. Shortly before CNN reported the vice president is keeping the 25th Amendment on the table, Texas Rep. Kevin Brady rejected it -- along any move toward impeachment -- and suggested, ridiculously, that doing so was no different from Trump's incitements.
"Those calling for impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment in response to President Trump's rhetoric this week are themselves engaging in intemperate and inflammatory language," Brady tweeted, "and calling for action that is equally irresponsible and could well incite further violence."
Meanwhile, Hawley, who is seeking to co-opt Trump's movement to realize his own lofty ambitions, has spent more time bleating on Twitter about a canceled book contract than addressing his role in Wednesday's affair. Cruz, too, is shirking responsibility and even made the comically implausible argument that he has, actually, been a consistent critic of the President. Republican leadership has been mostly quiet, going through the motions of condemning the violence while refusing to endorse any meaningful action in response.
The party's grassroots have shown little inclination to make a clean break from Trump. On Friday, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a Trump loyalist who has been careful not to make a full break from the President, was reelected to her post despite the GOP having lost control of the House in 2018, the White House in 2020 and the Senate in 2021.
Even retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, who was critical of the effort to upend the Electoral College count and told Fox News on Saturday that Trump has "committed impeachable offenses," balked at pressing forward with the process.
"I don't know whether logistically it's actually really even possible or practical and I'm not sure it's desirable to attempt to force him out, what a day or two or three prior to the day on which he's going to be finished anyway," Toomey said. "So I'm not clear that's the best path forward."
But a day later, Toomey told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" that Trump should resign from office and could face "criminal liability" after the Capitol riot, becoming the second Republican US senator to call for the President's resignation.
The refusal of congressional Republicans' to entertain any meaningful conversation over what comes next has put the onus on Democrats to chart the path forward. But they have their own political weights to balance.
Biden has shown little enthusiasm for impeachment, knowing that a Senate trial would suck the oxygen out of his first days in office and give Republicans a high-profile forum to argue that his calls for unity and pledge to cool partisan passions were campaign trail lip service.
"I'm focused on the virus, the vaccine and economic growth," Biden said when asked about impeachment on Friday. "What the Congress decides to do is for them to decide. But I'm going to have to, and they're going to have to be ready to hit the ground running."
The first lady has also not been shy when her opinions differ from her husband's, tweeting -- either on her own or via Grisham as her mouthpiece -- messages that would seem to be out step with his.
But this week was not one of those times.
CNN has reached out multiple times to the East Wing, both before and after Grisham's departure, to ask for comment on the first lady's thoughts about Wednesday's events, or if she had any comment at all. The requests were not answered.
