How bipartisan was Donald Trump’s second impeachment? CNN anchor Jake Tapper said it was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in history.
Trump’s second impeachment was “not just bipartisan – it’s the most bipartisan impeachment in American history,” said Tapper moments after the vote was held on January 13, 2021.
While President Donald Trump’s second impeachment in the House has been widely approved on party lines, it has attracted a higher level of bipartisan support compared to previous presidential impeachment efforts.
Ten House Republicans sided with Democrats in voting for Trump’s impeachment. That’s more than the number of Republicans who supported Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, which was zero. It is also bigger than the five Democrats who voted to impeach President Bill Clinton on both successful counts in 1998. And it was more bipartisan than the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, who received no Democratic support. (We will also speak with President Richard Nixon, who resigned under threat of impeachment.)
What happened in the January 13 House vote on Trump’s impeachment
The impeachment article considered by the House on January 13 cited Trump’s false claims about the election results, including the demonstration of his supporters on January 6. By “inciting” the crowd, the article said, Trump “seriously threatened the security of the United States and its institutions of government. It threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and endangered a common branch. government. “
The final vote was from 232 to 197, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting for the only impeachment article.
Republicans who broke ranks and voted for impeachment were Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the House’s third Republican; John Katko, from New York; Adam Kinzinger, from Illinois; Fred Upton and Peter Meijer, from Michigan; Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse from Washington; Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio; Tom Rice of South Carolina; and David Valadao of California.
Here is a summary of past presidential impeachments, including some committee votes.
Andrew Johnson’s impeachment
When Johnson was impeached in 1868, no Democrats in the House supported the general plenary vote for impeachment. In this vote, all but two Republicans voted for impeachment. The Chamber passed 11 specific impeachment articles, largely with party votes.
Bill Clinton’s impeachment
Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998 attracted less bipartisan support for the two of the four articles approved by the Judiciary Committee that won approval in the House plenary.
The first article that got approval from the House floor was Article 1, which said that Clinton had “voluntarily given perjury, false and misleading testimony” to the grand jury related to the sexual harassment cases of Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky. “This article passed the committee on a party line vote. In plenary, the article passed 228-206, with five Republicans voting against and five Democrats voting in favor of the article.
The other to pass the House, Article 3, said that Clinton obstructed justice related to the lawsuits against him. This article was also approved by the committee in a party line vote, and passed the entire House by a 221-212 margin, with 12 Republicans voting against and five Democrats voting in favor of the article.
Two articles were approved by the committee, but failed in the plenary. Article 2 involved perjury during Clinton’s responses to the depositions. On the committee, this was a party line vote, except for a Republican defection – then Rep. Lindsey Graham, RS.C. On the ground, he failed, 205-229.
And Article 4, which dealt with the obstruction of Congress, was approved by the committee in a party vote before falling to the floor, 148-245.
Donald Trump’s first impeachment
Article 1 against Trump in 2019 addressed the abuse of power, focusing on Trump’s alleged efforts to strengthen Ukraine in Joe Biden’s investigation. The article was approved by the Judiciary Committee by party vote.
Article 2 focused on Trump’s efforts to block cooperation with Congress in his impeachment investigation. This was approved by the Judiciary Committee by an identical party vote.
In the House floor, no Republican voted for any of the articles. Two Democrats voted against Article 1, representatives Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. (Van Drew later changed his Republican Party affiliation.) Peterson and Van Drew joined in the vote against Article 2 by Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine.
The impeachment effort against Richard Nixon
The impeachment of President Richard Nixon in 1974 did not reach the House floor because Nixon resigned first. Therefore, it is not directly comparable. But we can see what happened in the House Judiciary Committee when it passed three impeachment articles against Nixon.
Article 1, which focused on obstructing justice, won the support of six members of the Republican committee and all Democrats. That was about a third of the Republicans on the committee.
Article 2, which focused on abuse of power, also secured the support of six Republican members of the committee, in addition to all Democrats.
Article 3, which focused on obstructing Congress, received less bipartisan support, although it was approved by the committee. This article saw two Democratic defections and only two Republicans joining the Democratic majority.
These votes make Nixon’s impeachment the previous high point for bipartisanship, although, again, it is not a case of apples with apples, as we will never know what the plenary vote would be like. That said, the number of Republicans on the committee who joined the Democrats for Nixon’s impeachment was less than the number of House Republicans in general who supported Trump’s second impeachment.
Our decision
Tapper said that Donald Trump’s second impeachment was “the most bipartisan impeachment in American history”.
Trump’s second impeachment drew more Republican support – 10 votes in favor of the Republican Party plenary – than the impeachment of Andrew Johnson or Bill Clinton, or Trump’s first impeachment.
We classify the statement as True.