Washington – The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to impeach President Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection, making him the first president in the history of the United States to be impeached twice. The vote came exactly a week after a crowd of supporters of the president stormed the United States Capitol building in an effort to prevent Congress from counting the votes of the Electoral College and confirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
How the vote splits
232 for impeachment
- 222 Democrats
- 10 republicans
197 opposites
- 197 republicans
- 0 democrats
O 10 republicans who voted for impeachment are:
- Liz Cheney from Wyoming
- Tom Rice of South Carolina
- John Katko from New York
- Anthony Gonzalez from Ohio
- Peter Meijer from Michigan
- Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
- Dan Newhouse from Washington
- Fred Upton of Michigan
- Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington
- David Valadao of California
4 republicans didn’t vote:
- Kay Granger from Texas
- Andy Harris from Maryland
- Greg Murphy of North Carolina
- Daniel Webster from Florida
Next steps in the impeachment process
Now that the House has voted for impeachment, it is up to the Senate to carry out the trial. A two-thirds vote in the Senate would be needed to condemn Trump on impeachment charges.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday that the Senate cannot complete an impeachment trial before Trump’s term ends on January 20. But the trial may continue until Biden’s term, and senators can vote to condemn Trump even after he leaves office. If he is convicted, the Senate majority can also vote to prevent him from taking federal positions in the future.
The impeachment article, presented Monday by House Democrats, accuses Trump of “deliberately inciting violence against the United States government”, in violation of his oath and constitutional duty.
“President Trump has seriously threatened the security of the United States and its institutions of government,” article states. “He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and endangered a coordinated branch of government. In doing so, he betrayed his confidence as president to manifest harm to the people of the United States.”
The vote is the culmination of swift efforts by the Democratic-led House to punish Trump for his role in inciting violence on Capitol Hill, leading to the death of four protesters and one US Capitol Officer who was fatally wounded in the melee.
Presenting the arguments
In a speech on the House floor in support of impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Mr. Trump “must go”.
“The president must be impeached and, I believe, the president must be condemned by the Senate, a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man who is so resolutely determined to destroy the things we love and that keeps us together,” he said. she. “These rebels were not patriots. They were not part of a political base to be looked after and managed. They were domestic terrorists and justice must prevail.”
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans argued that impeachment would only worsen the country’s party division. McCarthy suggested that the House pass a censorship resolution and create a commission to investigate last week’s events. He said Trump was partly responsible for the violence, but that impeachment was not the right way to move on.
“An impeachment vote would further divide this nation. An impeachment vote would further heighten the flames of the party division,” said McCarthy, who voted against the results of the Electoral College last week. “The president is responsible for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by crowd protesters. He should have immediately denounced the crowd when he saw what was going on.”
President Trump posted a video statement shortly after the House vote. He condemned the violent attack on the Capitol but he made no reference to his own conduct or the impeachment process.
“I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week. Violence and vandalism have absolutely no place in our country and nowhere in our movement, ”he said. “The violence of the crowd goes against everything I believe in and everything that our movement represents.”
“We have seen many riots, many mobs, many acts of intimidation and destruction. This must stop. Whether you are on the right or the left, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, there is never a justification for violence, no excuses, without exceptions.”
Mr Trump briefly commented on the impeachment effort on Tuesday, saying it was causing “tremendous danger” for the nation and “tremendous anger”.
“The impeachment rumor is a continuation of the biggest and most cruel witch hunt in the history of our country and is causing tremendous anger, division and pain, far greater than most people will ever understand, which is very dangerous for the USA, especially at this very delicate time, “Trump said during a speech in Texas, where he examined the wall along the US-Mexico border.
The president also refused to take responsibility for the role his rhetoric played in stimulating the violent attack on the Capitol.
“They analyzed my speech and words and my final paragraph, my final sentence and everyone at T thought it was entirely appropriate,” he told reporters before leaving for Texas.