The head of a US business group representing 14,000 companies including Exxon Mobil, Pfizer and Toyota has urged senior US officials to consider removing Donald Trump from office after his supporters stormed the Capitol.
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National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons said Trump "incited violence in an attempt to retain power and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favour of anarchy.
Timmons said Vice President Mike Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy."
Trump has 14 days remaining in office before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20.
Other business groups issued strong statements but did not go as far as the manufacturers' group.
Under the amendment's Section 4, never invoked, the vice president and a majority of either Cabinet officials or "such other body as Congress may by law provide" may declare in writing that the president "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."
The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executives of some of America's biggest companies, said "the chaos unfolding in the nation's capital is the result of unlawful efforts to overturn the legitimate results of a democratic election."
In a statement they called on Trump "and all relevant officials to put an end to the chaos and to facilitate the peaceful transition of power."
Blackstone Group chief executive Steve Schwarzman, a Trump ally, said in a statement "the insurrection that followed the President's remarks today is appalling and an affront to the democratic values we hold dear as Americans. I am shocked and horrified by this mob's attempt to undermine our constitution."
The head of the US Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobby based near the White House, said that "attacks against our nation's Capitol Building and our democracy must end now".
"The Congress of the United States must gather again this evening to conclude their Constitutional responsibility to accept the report of the Electoral College," Thomas Donohue, the chamber's CEO said in a statement.
Australian Associated Press
