A wave of Democrats on Tuesday called to remove President Trump from office over his threats against Iran ahead of an 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday deadline for Tehran to cut a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“Donald Trump is openly threatening war crimes against the entirety of Iranian civilization. 25th Amendment proceedings must begin immediately, but if the Cabinet is too cowardly, the House should begin the impeachment process now,” Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) posted on social platform X, referencing Trump’s Tuesday morning post.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called on the House to begin impeachment proceedings over the post, calling it “completely unstable and perilous.”

“The House must bring up impeachment articles, and the Senate needs to remove a president who wants to commit war crimes. We cannot sit idly by as Donald Trump threatens to end an entire civilization,” Markey said in a post online.

The White House responded by calling the Democrats’ remarks “pathetic.”

“Democrats have been talking about removing President Trump since before he was even sworn into office. The Democrats in Congress are deranged, weak, and ineffective, which is why their approval ratings are at historic lows,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said.

Trump posted on Truth Social Tuesday morning that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran does not meet the deadline to reopen the critical shipping channel. That followed his threats over the weekend and on Monday to attack bridges and power plants in Iran, which some international experts warn would be tantamount to a war crime.

“25th Amendment RIGHT NOW! Trump is too unhinged, dangerous, and deranged to have the nuclear codes!” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) posted in response.

The Democrats pointed to the 25th Amendment and impeachment as possible ways to remove Trump from office.

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which governs presidential succession, says that the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet may vote to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and the duties of his office” and give the vice president the duties of acting president.

A dispute from the president about his capacity to perform the job would then send the question to Congress, which could concur by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate.

The vice president and the Cabinet have never before declared a president incapable of serving in office.

It takes a majority vote of the House to impeach a president and a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict and remove the president — a process that Trump, who has been impeached twice but avoided removal, is familiar with.

“After bombing a school and massacring young girls, the war criminal in the White House is threatening genocide. It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment. This maniac should be removed from office,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) posted on social media.

“This is why the 25th Amendment and impeachment were created. These aren’t policy differences. He is threatening crimes,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said in a post. “It’s time to invoke the 25th. But we can’t do it alone—we need our Republican colleagues to do the right thing, for this country and for the world.”

Some Democratic members did not specify the process they would prefer to remove Trump, but just that he should be removed.

“This is a horrifying threat of genocidal war crimes. The lives of civilians and service members alike are at stake here. Congress must stop this war and remove Trump from the White House,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) said in a post on X.

Democratic Reps. Summer Lee (Pa.), Andrea Salinas (Ore.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.) were also among those who called in posts online to remove Trump over his post.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) did not call to remove Trump from office, but he said, “It’s time for every single Republican to put patriotic duty over party and stop the madness.” Democrats intended to call up a resolution to limit Trump’s war powers in Iran when Congress is back in session next week.