- Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said in no uncertain terms that President Donald Trump’s recent conduct was grounds for impeachment.
- But Manchin cautioned Congress “to be practical” before going to trial.
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Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said in no uncertain terms that President Donald Trump’s recent conduct was grounds for impeachment; however, he cautioned Congress “to be practical” before going to trial.
“There is no doubt that he should be charged,” Manchin said during an interview with CNN on Sunday. “But if we can’t, you have to be practical about what we’re doing now.”
Manchin, who has criticized Trump’s rhetoric about contesting the results of the United States presidential election, stressed that the moment of an impeachment “did not make any common sense”, since the Senate is scheduled to return from recess and resume the period normal business on January 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden took office.
“We are ready to install a new government,” said Manchin. “If I were Joe Biden, I wish I could organize my government.”
Democrats in the House threatened to present impeachment articles against Trump, the second during his presidency, as early as Monday.
In a memo first reported by The Washington Post, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell outlined his plan in case Democrats initiate proceedings before Biden’s inauguration. McConnell wrote that the earliest the Senate would take the matter to be January 19, since any decision taken before returning from recess would require a unanimous decision by a Republican-majority Senate – an unlikely scenario.
“I hope people look at two paths: you have a political path and you have a judicial path,” said Manchin. “I think that the judicial route may be the one that will give us the best results to end this foolishness within politics, that kind of dangerous and insidious speech that you have”.
Manchin, a moderate voice in the Senate, is an important vote for Democrats during a standoff. Manchin’s vote is still essential next year, despite Democrats having a majority of members in both chambers of Congress. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be the tiebreaker in the case of a 50-50 split.
A growing number of Republican and Democratic lawmakers have called for Trump to be impeached after the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill. Before rioters invaded Congress, Trump hosted an event near the White House to galvanize supporters to “never give in” in the race for the results of the presidential election.
The ensuing riot claimed the lives of at least five people, including a Capitol police officer.