Following a pro-Trump mob's violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, calls for President Donald Trump’s removal from office have been mounting.

On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called for the president’s removal and Rep. Ilhan Omar has drawn up articles of impeachment. Others, including Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have called to invoke the 25th amendment.

“It is the hope of Members that the President will immediately resign," Pelosi said in a statement following a virtual meeting of the House Democratic Caucus on Friday. "But if he does not, I have instructed the Rules Committee to be prepared to move forward with Congressman Jamie Raskin’s 25th Amendment legislation and a motion for impeachment. 

"Accordingly, the House will preserve every option – including the 25th Amendment, a motion to impeach or a privileged resolution for impeachment," she added. "With great respect, our deliberations will continue.”

Though the president has sought to distance himself from the riots, many – including GOP members, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) – blame Mr. Trump for inciting the riots.

The president's about-face is undermined by his rhetoric during the insurrection, when he told rioters to “go home, we love you, you’re very special.” His response there is at odds with the ferocious threats of violent retribution he used when BLM protests swept the nation. 

After the attack on the Capitol, the president also promised to support a smooth transition of power. That was contradicted by his announcement Friday morning that he will not attend President elect Biden’s inauguration.

Every U.S. president has attended their successor’s inauguration with one exception: Andrew Johnson sat out Ulysses Grant’s inauguration. Like Trump, Johnson was impeached but not removed from office.

Since Wednesday’s events, members of the president’s Cabinet – including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao – have resigned their posts, distancing themselves from the president at the 11th hour.

In a startling reversal, Republican objections to the electoral count have quickly ebbed. Though Congress finalized President-elect Joe Biden’s win following the riots, a select few GOP lawmakers stood by their earlier objections. In a floor speech, freshman Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) championed the challenge, echoing sentiments espoused by alt-right insurrectionists whom he greeted on the Capitol steps, fist raised.

Lawmakers across the aisle seem split on how to proceed. While some would implement the 25th – making Vice President Mike Pence president until Mr. Biden assumes office on Jan. 20 – this doesn’t preclude Mr. Trump from running for office in 2024. It would also require both the vice president and either a majority of the Cabinet or of a body designated by Congress to deem the president unfit for office.

The 25th Amendment offers a path to temporarily transfer power from the President to the Vice President if the Commander in Chief is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

The amendment was ratified in 1967 to address concerns about the continuity of power immediately after President John F. Kennedy was shot.

Section 4 of the 25th amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president unfit for office, with the vice president then becomes acting president. This section has never been invoked.

Other secions of the amendment have been invoked – most notably, section 3, which President George W. Bush invoked twice, temporarily transferring power to Vice President Dick Cheney in 2002 and 2007 in order to undergo a colonoscopy.

For section 4 to be invoked, the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet would have to declare the president unfit to serve. Then the vice president would serve as acting president after sending a letter to the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate indicating such a move.

The president could challenge their fitness to serve, but Congress could overrule that decision.

One other outcome, surprisingly detailed by the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board, also remains a possibility, albeit a slim one: Mr. Trump could resign.

While the Journal has previously pulled its punches when it comes to the president, its recent column notes “If Mr. Trump wants to avoid a second impeachment, his best path would be to take personal responsibility and resign.” The editorial board also went further, emphasizing “It is best for everyone, himself included, if he goes away quietly.”

Already, Speaker Pelosi has asked the Pentagon to deny President Trump access to nuclear codes. 

What this foreshadows remains to be seen.