Donald Trump has been impeached by the US House for a historic second time, charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the US Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office.
President Donald Trump was impeached by the US House for a historic second time, charged with “incitement of insurrection” over the deadly mob siege of the US Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office.
With the US Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Donald Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Trump loyalists stormed the US Capitol, egged on by the president’s calls for them to “fight like hell” against the election results.
Ten Republicans fled Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a “clear and present danger” if Congress should leave him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20.
Donald Trump is the only US president to be twice impeached.
The US Capitol Siege: What Happened
The US Capitol insurrection stunned and angered lawmakers, who were sent scrambling for safety as the mob descended, and it revealed the fragility of the nation’s history of peaceful transfers of power. The riot also forced a reckoning among some Republicans, who have stood by Trump throughout his presidency and largely allowed him to spread false attacks against the integrity of the 2020 election.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked Abraham Lincoln and the Bible, imploring lawmakers to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign “and domestic.”
She said of Trump: “He must go, he is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
Holed up at the White House, watching the proceedings on TV, Trump took no responsibility for the bloody riot seen around the world, but issued a statement urging “NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind” to disrupt Biden’s ascension to the White House.
In the face of the accusations against him and with the FBI warning of more violence, Trump said, “That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers.”
The First Impeachment
Donald Trump was first impeached by the House in 2019 over his dealings with Ukraine, but the Senate voted in 2020 acquit. He is the first to be impeached twice.
None has been convicted by the Senate, but Republicans said Wednesday that could change in the rapidly shifting political environment as officeholders, donors, big business and others peel away from the defeated president.
What Next?
Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the US Senate will not begin until next week, outgoing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, setting the stage for a partisan brawl in President-elect Joe Biden's first days in office.
"Even if the Senate process were to begin this week and move promptly, no final verdict would be reached until after President Trump had left office. This is not a decision I am making; it is a fact," McConnell said in a statement.
McConnell, who loses his position as majority leader when Biden is sworn in on January 20, issued his statement shortly after the House of Representatives voted 232-197 to make Trump the first US president ever to be impeached twice, a week after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol.
Now that Trump has been impeached in the House for a second time, the action moves to the Senate, which would hold a formal trial with US Chief Justice John Roberts presiding.
McConnell said a "fair or serious trial" cannot conclude before Biden is sworn in.
"The Senate has held three presidential impeachment trials. They have lasted 83 days, 37 days and 21 days, respectively," he noted in a statement. It was not clear whether the Democratic-led House would deliver the charge against Trump to the Senate on Wednesday night.
Ten of Trump's fellow Republicans joined 222 Democrats in backing impeachment in the House, where Democrats hold a slim majority. In the Senate, Republicans still have control until two newly elected Democrats from Georgia take their seats and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will wield the tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 chamber, is sworn in alongside Joe Biden.
No Democrats voted against impeachment.
Unlike his first time, Trump faces this impeachment as a weakened leader, having lost his own reelection as well as the Senate Republican majority.
Even Trump ally Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, shifted his position and said Wednesday the president bears responsibility for the horrifying day at the Capitol.
The Charges
In making a case for the “high crimes and misdemeanors” demanded in the Constitution, the four-page impeachment resolution approved Wednesday relies on Trump’s own incendiary rhetoric and the falsehoods he spread about Biden’s election victory, including at a rally near the White House on the day of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
A Capitol Police officer died from injuries suffered in the riot, and police shot and killed a woman during the siege. Three other people died in what authorities said were medical emergencies. The riot delayed the tally of Electoral College votes that was the last step in finalizing Biden’s victory.
Ten Republican lawmakers, including third-ranking House GOP leader Liz Cheney of Wyoming, voted to impeach Trump, cleaving the Republican leadership, and the party itself.
Cheney, whose father is the former Republican vice president, said of Trump’s actions summoning the mob that “there has never been a greater betrayal by a President” of his office.
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