Donald Trump’s fiery speech at a rally shortly before the attack on the Capitol is at the heart of the impeachment charge against him, even though the falsehoods he has spread for months about electoral fraud are still defended by some Republicans.
A Capitol policeman died of injuries sustained in the rebellion, and police shot and killed a woman during the siege. Three other people died in what the authorities said were medical emergencies.
What to watch as the Democratic-controlled House tries to challenge Trump for the second time in 13 months – now with just a few days left for the defeated president’s term:
O Democratic impeachment case
Trump faces a single charge – “inciting insurrection” – after the Capitol’s deadly riot in an impeachment resolution that the House will begin debating on Wednesday. It is a surprising ending to Trump’s presidency, as Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans declare that he is unfit for the job and could do more harm after inciting a mob that sacked the Capitol.
“President Trump has seriously threatened the security of the United States and its government institutions,” says part of the four-page impeachment bill. “He will remain a threat to national security, democracy and the Constitution if he is allowed to remain in office.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said impeachment is necessary, despite the limited number of days remaining for Trump’s term. “The president’s threat to America is urgent, and so will our action,” she said.
Trump’s actions were personal to Pelosi and many other lawmakers. She was among those forced to huddle in a bunker during Capitol riots, and armed protesters threatened their employees with insults of “Where’s Nancy?”
The House of Representatives will meet at 9 am ET (2 pm GMT) and there will be an initial debate and some procedural votes. Then, around lunchtime, there should be about two hours of debate about the impeachment articles, concluding with a mid-afternoon vote, around 3pm ET (8pm GMT). Voting in the Chamber will take between 40 minutes and an hour. The vote is almost certain to pass, as Democrats have the majority, and several Republicans have said they will support the move. The next step in the process would then be to send the impeachment articles to the Senate.
How many Republicans will support impeachment?
Unlike the last time Trump was impeached, when no House Republicans supported the charges against Trump because of a phone call he made to Ukraine’s new president, the current impeachment effort has attracted the support of some Republicans.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy of California and his deputy, Louisiana representative Steve Scalise, must again oppose the impeachment, but Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, said Tuesday who will support.
New York Republican deputies John Katko and Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger also said they would support the impeachment, and some other Republicans would likely follow.
McCarthy, one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress, agreed with Trump in declaring that “impeachment at this point would have the opposite effect of uniting our country.”
Will House censors Trump?
Almost without impeachment, McCarthy and other Republicans launched the idea of a censorship of Trump in the House. While it was unclear how much support the proposal has, McCarthy said censorship or some other mechanism – such as a bipartisan commission to investigate the attack – would “ensure that the January 6 events are properly reported and prevented from occurring in the future” .
Democrats, with votes for impeachment in hand, are not buying it.
When would the impeachment articles go to the Senate?
Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell – who remains in charge of the Senate until Democrats take over, perhaps as early as January 20 – said that the earliest the Senate could consider impeaching would be January 19, the day before Trump left. the post and President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated. Democratic leaders have explored how to revoke the Senate before, although that still requires McConnell’s cooperation. Therefore, it is likely that any vote to condemn Trump will take place after he has already stepped down, with a trial potentially taking place on January 20 or January 21. There is a suggestion, however, that the Democratic-controlled House may delay sending the articles to the Senate until after the Biden government is established and its choices to the cabinet confirmed by the Senate, so as not to overturn the beginning of his term in office. Biden suggested that the Senate split its time between impeachment and its agenda.
How many votes are needed in the Senate for Trump’s impeachment?
The impeachment needs to pass a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which requires 67 votes. After the two Democrats’ successes in Georgia’s runoff elections, the new Senate will be delicately balanced 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Kamala Harris having the casting vote. This means that 17 Republican senators would need to vote to condemn Trump. The outgoing president was easily acquitted on both counts in his previous impeachment trial, without a single Republican in the Senate finding him guilty.
Will any Republican in the Senate vote to condemn Trump this time?
Things may be different in 2021. The charge is much simpler and more direct to begin with – that Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection, rather than the complicated and obscure deals in Ukraine that were the subject of the first impeachment. So far, five Republican representatives in the House have spoken out to say they will vote for impeachment, but, for now, no senator. It is hard to imagine the hard line as Sens. Ted Cruz or Josh Hawley, who voted against Joe Biden’s election victory, is now rocking in an attempt to impeach Trump.
However, reports from both the New York Times and Axios suggest that those close to Senate leader McConnell appear to believe that he thinks Trump has committed impeachable crimes and may be determined to vote to convict in a Senate trial. If that were the case, it would be easier for other Republicans to do so.
If Trump is found guilty, will that prevent him from running for president again?
Not automatically. However, if convicted, the Senate could proceed with another vote to prevent him from running for office, requiring only a simple majority to pass. This vote would invoke the 14th amendment, which prohibits anyone who participates in insurrection or rebellion from federal or state positions. Adopted after the United States civil war, the amendment states that no one should hold office in the United States if they have already “been involved in an insurrection or rebellion” against the United States as an elected official.
Can the 14th amendment be used even if Trump is acquitted?
While it is certain that it will be challenged and subject to legal challenge, some experts believe that the 14th amendment could be used to prevent Donald Trump from running for office again, even if he is acquitted. Again, this would require only a simple majority vote in the Senate, which, under Democratic control, would likely pass.
How Trump will respond?
So far, Trump has taken no responsibility for his part in fomenting the violent insurrection, despite his comments encouraging his supporters to march on the Capitol and praising them while still carrying out the attack. “People thought what I said was entirely appropriate,” he said on Tuesday.
A significant difference from Trump’s first impeachment: he no longer has a Twitter feed to respond in real time.
Enhanced security
In a sign of rising tensions after the attack, House legislators will be required for the first time to pass through a metal detector before being allowed to enter the chamber.
This new security measure will remain in effect every day that the House is in session in the near future, according to a directive by Timothy Blodgett, the acting House Sergeant in Arms. Blodgett replaced the former arms sergeant who resigned after widespread criticism of poor security planning for the January 6 certification vote.
Blodgett also told lawmakers that they must wear masks during the Covid-19 crisis and that they can be removed from the chamber if they don’t.
Will lawmakers control emotions on the floor?
Although the debate over the Chamber is often heated, emotions are expected to rise unusually while legislators debate impeachment. Not only is it the second time they have voted on such a measure, the debate comes exactly a week after the majority of House Republicans opposed Biden’s victory certification, setting the stage for the hour-long siege that rocked the Capitol and the nation.
A recent escape from Covid-19 between lawmakers who were kept in confinement with others who refused to wear masks only increased tensions.