A timetable for procedures in the U.S. House of Representatives for impeaching outgoing President Donald Trump for the second time in just over a year has emerged in the final countdown to the Republican’s divisive presidency.
The House can accept any impeachment article against Trump earlier this week, according to the majority Whip James Clyburn, a member of the House’s Democratic leadership. “It may be Tuesday or Wednesday before the action is taken, but I think it will be taken this week,” he said in an interview with CNN.
Clyburn made the comments a day after House Democrats announced they plan to present an impeachment article against Trump on Monday, seeking to oust the president from office for “inciting insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol last week. Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline, who co-wrote the resolution, tweeted on Sunday that the document has so far had 210 co-sponsors.
In a letter to her colleagues on Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that a Democratic-led resolution will be presented to the lower house on Monday, which calls on Vice President Mike Pence to “convene and mobilize the Cabinet to the 25th Amendment to declare the President incapable of performing the functions of his position “, a measure that allows Pence to immediately exercise powers as interim President of the United States.
“We are asking the vice president to respond within 24 hours,” wrote the Democrat in Congress. “Next, we will proceed with the presentation of impeachment legislation.”
If any impeachment articles against Trump pass the House before he leaves office later this month, Democrats, who have a majority in the lower house, can wait until after President Elect Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office to send the legislation to the Senate for a trial, said Clyburn.
“It turns out that if it weren’t there for 100 days, it could – let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda up and running, and maybe we’ll send the articles sometime after that,” said the Democrat from Carolina southern.
The United States Constitution states that the House “will have the sole power to impeach” and that “the Senate will have the sole power to try all impeachments”. Through the impeachment process, the United States Congress charges and then prosecutes a federal government official for “Treason, Bribery or other Serious Crimes and Misdemeanors”.
The conviction can only take place in the Senate and requires that at least two-thirds of its members, or 67 senators, vote in favor of at least one impeachment article after the trial. The chamber may try to impeach an employee after he leaves office, according to legal experts.
Some Democrats are concerned that the trial of Trump’s second impeachment in the Senate, probably a lengthy process, could delay confirmations of those nominated to Biden’s office by the evenly divided upper house, as the politically polarized country is still stuck in the middle of COVID 19 pandemic and economic difficulties.
In Wilmington, Delaware, on Sunday, Biden ignored a shouted question that asked him how disturbing the trial of another Trump impeachment in the Senate would be on his agenda.
The Democratic-led House overturned Trump in December 2019 after an investigation sparked by a whistleblower’s complaint that raised concerns about the White House’s interactions with Ukraine. Later, the Republican-led Senate acquitted the president, allowing him to remain in office.
No US president has ever been removed from office for impeachment by Congress, nor has the impeachment Chamber of any president more than once.
A crowd of Trump supporters oppressed the police and violently violated the Capitol on January 6, when Congress was certifying Biden’s victory in the 2020 race for the White House. Chaos and violence forced a blockade on the Capitol grounds and left five people dead, including a policeman, and dozens of others injured.
Trump spoke at a rally outside the White House shortly before deadly violence unfolded on Capitol Hill, urging his supporters to march towards the landmark to encourage Republican lawmakers to challenge the results of the Electoral College, as he refused to acknowledge its legitimacy. with unsubstantiated allegations of fraud voter.
Trump is facing a strong storm of bipartisan criticism amid growing bipartisan calls for him to resign or be removed from office immediately after the Capitol siege.
US Senator Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican about to retire in 2022, told CNN on Sunday that he believes the commander in chief should step down.
“I think at this point, with just a few days left, it’s the best way forward, the best way to put that person in the rearview mirror for us that can happen right away,” said Toomey. “I’m not optimistic about that. But I think it would be the best way forward.”
There are no plans for Trump to step down before January 20, when his term ends and Biden takes office as the next president of the United States.
According to a survey conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News, 56% of Americans think Trump should be removed from office before the official transfer of power, while 43% say no. The issue divided them into party lines, with 94% of Democrats and only 13% of Republicans supporting the measure.
Trump will travel to Alamo, Texas on Tuesday to “mark the completion of more than 400 miles” from the US-Mexico border wall, a signature on his immigration policy and a source of party strife that has contributed to the longest strike of the federal government in the history of late 2018 to early 2019.
On January 7, the U.S. Congress affirmed the 2020 Electoral College votes, in which Biden won 306 against 232 for Trump. At least 270 electoral votes are needed to win the White House. Biden also won popular votes by 7 million and more than 4 percentage points.
Following Congressional certification of Biden’s victory, Trump acknowledged defeat and vowed to guarantee “a smooth, orderly and seamless power transition” while condemning violence on Capitol Hill.
