Vice President Mike Pence said in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday he is opposed to invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office. In the letter, Pence quotes from Ecclesiastes.
“The Bible says that ‘for everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven...a time to heal, ... and a time to build up.’ That time is now,” the letter reads.
The full text of the oft-quoted passage, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, also points to times to uproot, to tear down, to mourn:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
In the letter, Pence does not speak to Trump’s incitement of last week’s attacks on the Capitol, including during a speech in which the president told his followers to walk to the Capitol and to “fight like hell.” Rather, Pence says members of Congress should avoid actions “that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment,” and pledges “work in good faith with the incoming administration to ensure an orderly transition of power. So help me God.”
The House plans to vote as soon as Wednesday on an article of impeachment charging Trump with inciting insurrection.
Reuters reporting contributed to this story.
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