Schumer vows to fire Senate sergeant at arms if he isn't gone by January 21
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that if Senate Sargent-at-Arms Michael Stenger isn't gone by the time he takes over as majority leader later this month, he will fire him. Schumer's calls came one day after an angry mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, sending lawmakers fleeing from the floor and leaving four dead in the melee.
"It was appalling how ill-prepared the Congress was for these attacks, which were known about in advance," Schumer said about Wednesday's assault on the U.S. Capitol. "I will dismiss the Sergeant At Arms the day I become majority leader, January 21st, if McConnell, who appointed him, doesn't get rid of him sooner."
Schumer spoke Thursday afternoon at a press conference in New York after vowing in a statement to fire Stenger, who is the Senate's chief law enforcement officer responsible for security in the Senate and the protection of senators. Rioters managed to access the Senate floor during Wednesday's Capitol breach.
"He must go," said Schumer, who is set to take over as majority leader when Democrats take control of the Senate. "He did a terrible, terrible job."
"The men and women of the Capitol Hill police, they're fine people," he said. "But they had no leadership, no preparation, everyone knew this would happen. The Sergeant At Arms has been derelict in his duty. He doesn't deserve to be in office."
Schumer on Thursday also called for the vice president to swiftly invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Trump from office.
"The quickest and most effective way - it can be done today - to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment," Schumer said in a statement.
He said what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was an insurrection incited by the president and that Mr. Trump should not hold office "one day longer."
"If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress must reconvene to impeach President Trump," he said.
Schumer is the highest-ranking lawmaker to endorse the use of the 25th Amendment or impeachment to oust Mr. Trump. Some Cabinet officials have discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment following the Wednesday crisis at the Capitol, CBS News reported, but those discussions had not resulted in a formal presentation to the vice president as of Wednesday evening