WASHINGTON – With the House impeachment vote on Wednesday, we started a Republican debate about President Trump, his behavior and Trumpism.
But that debate became a defeat – 197 House Republicans opposed to Trump’s impeachment, against 10 voting in favor.
Now, 10 Republicans in the House supporting the impeachment of their president were not insignificant: it is more than the Democrats’ defections in the House on Bill Clinton’s impeachment (five) and the Republican Party’s defections in the House on Trump’s first impeachment (zero) .
Still, even without his Twitter account, even with just six days left in office, even after last week’s violence and even with U.S. troops at the U.S. Capitol, an overwhelming majority of House Republicans supported Trump.
But while the impeachment vote did not change the Republican Party’s views on Trump – at least in the House – it resulted in:
- Republicans admit that Joe Biden won, something that many still struggled with a week ago (“Let’s be clear: Joe Biden will take the oath as President of the United States in one week because he won the election,” said House minority leader Kevin McCarthy );
- Some Republicans also acknowledge Trump’s responsibility for last week’s insurrection (“The president is responsible for Wednesday’s attack on Congress,” McCarthy added);
- Trump launches a video condemning political violence (do you think he would launch that video if he wasn’t worried about a Senate conviction?);
- And Trump becoming the first American president to face two charges – in just a single term.
Another observation from yesterday: with a few exceptions – like McCarthy and Steve Scalise – the House Republicans who were defending Trump and opposing his impeachment on the House floor were members of the House for Freedom.
The other Republican Party party leaders and many of its committee chairs did not speak, suggesting a considerable gap between the leadership and the grassroots.
Will it be a different game in the Senate?
But, as the impeachment goes to a Senate trial, the question we have: are 10 Republican Party defections in the House worth 20 Republican Senate defections in the Senate?
Or just five or six?
The answer will determine whether Trump will be condemned or escaped again.
“Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Told his Republican colleagues in a note on Wednesday afternoon that he remains undecided whether to vote to convict President Donald Trump in his forthcoming impeachment trial.” , according to NBC News.
Data download: the numbers you need to know today
10: The number of House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump on Wednesday
Less than one percentage point: The closest winning margin in 2020 for any of those 10, for Rep. David Valadao, who won his seat in California from Democrat TJ Cox after being defeated by a small margin in 2018.
44 percentage points: The widest margin of victory in the 2020 general election for any of those ten, for Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming.
Eight out of 10: The number of House Republicans who voted for impeachment and won the 2020 general election by more than 10 percentage points.
Eight out of 10: The number of House Republicans who voted for impeachment whose constituencies were defeated by Donald Trump.
Three out of 10: The number of House Republicans voting for impeachment whose states (Washington and California) have a primary non-partisan process in the first two.
1: The number of House Republicans who voted for impeachment who also opposed the certification of electoral votes last week.
23,184,222: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, according to the latest data from NBC News and health officials. (257,795 more than yesterday morning.)
385,698: The number of deaths caused by the virus in the United States so far. (There are 4,309 more than yesterday morning.)
130,383: The number of people currently hospitalized with coronavirus.
273.75 million: The number of coronavirus tests that have been administered in the United States so far, according to researchers at The COVID Tracking Project.
At least 10.3 million: The number of people in the US who received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
6: The number of days until the day of possession.
Walking and chewing gum at the same time
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell made it clear on Wednesday that he would not call the Senate back to hear a trial on President Trump’s impeachment until January 19.
This is the same day that four Senate confirmation hearings are scheduled for Biden Cabinet nominees.
“Even if the Senate process started this week and moved quickly, no final verdict would be reached until President Trump stepped down. This is not a decision I am making; it is a fact, ”said McConnell in a statement.
On Wednesday night, Biden drew his own line: find a way to hear the trial and maintain regular order.
“I hope the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with its constitutional responsibilities for impeachment, while also working on other urgent issues in this nation,” said Biden.
Essentially: Lawmakers often joke about the ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. The start of Biden’s term could be a chance to prove it.
By the way, here are the next Senate confirmation hearings, according to NBC’s Geoff Bennett:
January 15th
Avril Haines (Director of National Intelligence) – 2:00 pm, Senate Intelligence
January 19
Janet Yellen (Treasury) – 10 am, Senate Finance
Alejandro Mayorkas (DHS) – 10am, Senate Homeland Security
Lloyd Austin (Defense) – 3:00 am, Senate Armed Services
Tony Blinken (State) – 2:00 pm, Senate Foreign Affairs
Tweet of the day
The Lid: The Ten
Don’t miss yesterday’s pod, when we look at what the 10 Republicans who voted for the president’s impeachment have and don’t have in common.
ICYMI: What else is happening in the world
What happens next in the Senate? It looks like a heavy lift.
Joe Biden says he wants to accept Covid’s relief and confirmations and, at the same time, allow lawmakers to fulfill their “constitutional responsibilities” on impeachment.
And Biden plans to include a major new benefit for children from poor and middle-class families.
Trump condemned the violence in a new video – but did not mention the impeachment vote.
The Capitol riot could be the beginning – not the end – of a new evolution of the QAnon movement.
The New York Times profiles Lauren Boebert.
Here’s what former Michigan governor Rick Snyder was accused of in the Flint water crisis.