Which specific members of Congress publicly called for Donald Trump’s removal after January 6, 2021?
Executive summary
After the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, dozens of members of Congress — spanning Democrats, a few Republicans and some independents — publicly demanded that President Donald Trump be removed from office either by impeachment or by invoking the 25th Amendment; named, documented calls include Representatives Ted Lieu, Charlie Crist and Adam Kinzinger, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and a broader coalition of more than 200 House members and 38 senators joined various removal demands [1] [2] [3].
1. Who explicitly asked for the 25th Amendment to be used
A small set of members made immediate, explicit public appeals for Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove the president: Representatives Ted Lieu and Charlie Crist were reported asking Pence to act on January 6 [1], and GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger likewise called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked in the days after the attack, posting a public statement urging that process [3]. These calls were distinct from calls for impeachment because they sought an immediate transfer of power through the Cabinet and vice president rather than a House trial.
2. Who publicly endorsed impeachment or other removal steps
Broadly, Democratic leadership and many rank-and-file Democrats publicly supported impeachment or immediate removal after January 6: the group of lawmakers that publicly pushed for removal later coalesced into a list described as “over 200” House members and 38 senators backing removal by some means, and that group explicitly included Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer [2]. Civil rights and advocacy groups also urged every member to vote to impeach and remove the president, a stance echoed by many House Democrats and some senators in the immediate aftermath [4] [2].
3. Cross-party names and independents who joined the calls
Most calls for removal were from Democrats, but a handful of Republicans and independents are documented in the reporting: Republicans Adam Kinzinger and John Katko were among the few GOP House members who publicly supported removal [2] [3], and two independents who caucus with Democrats — Senators Angus King and Bernie Sanders — were recorded among those who joined the group calling for removal [2]. The public record therefore shows a coalition that was overwhelmingly Democratic but included a few bipartisan voices.
4. How many members publicly called for removal — and what that number means
Documentation compiled by members of Congress themselves counted roughly 213 House members and 38 senators at one point as calling for President Trump’s removal, though those signatories did not uniformly agree on the mechanism — some backed immediate impeachment, others urged the Cabinet to use the 25th Amendment, and still others demanded resignation or immediate departure [2]. Reporting and advocacy materials reflect a mix of legal strategies and political messaging among those signers rather than a single unified procedural demand.
5. Counterpoints, political context and reporting limits
Republican opposition and later defenses shaped the aftermath: many Republican leaders resisted removal and argued against post-presidential impeachment, a stance personified by then-Senate leaders and others who framed trial and removal as constitutionally fraught [5]. The White House and allied outlets have since contested the narrative that Trump was primarily responsible for January 6, producing competing accounts and critiques of investigative work [6] [7]. Reporting available in the provided sources names several specific members and tallies a larger coalition, but does not supply an exhaustive, line-by-line list of every lawmaker who publicly called for removal on specific dates; thus this summary highlights the named, verifiable actors documented in the cited sources [1] [2] [3].