While Congress certified the electoral votes to affirm Joe Biden’s victory on Wednesday, an armed insurrection, egged on by President Trump’s claims of voter fraud, of the United States Capitol Building took place. Insurgents and rioters attempted to stop Congress certifying Biden’s victory after Trump called for people to go to the Capitol Building. Now, the president is now being accused of causing the insurrection, and Democrats floating the idea of impeaching Trump for the second time.
Just before the insurgency occurred, President Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, among other allies, held a rally on the National Mall by the Washington Monument, not far away from the Capitol. The team continued to push baseless conspiracy theories, arguing that the 2020 election was rigged. Giuliani called for “trial by combat,” and Trump said, “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard today.” He also told people to “fight like hell.”
After that, the Capitol Building was stormed by the pro-Trump mob, with far-right insurgents breaking into the heart of the U.S. Congress and forcing an evacuation. Some members had to take shelter under their desks, and people had to use makeshift barricades to stop rioters entering various rooms. The New York Times explains fully how the rioters managed to break in.
When Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was evacuated to a safe location, she immediately got to work, drawing up Articles of Impeachment against President Trump. On Twitter, she called for the president to be impeached once again, for “high crimes and misdemeanors” and “seditious acts.”
Articles of Impeachment for introduction, so proud of everyone co-leading this effort with us.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 7, 2021
We need to move quickly to remove this President from office. pic.twitter.com/vbZtA7g6fc
As of writing, 158 Democratic representatives and 22 Democratic senators signed on to the effort to impeach Trump again. This includes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader-Designate Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Pelosi, despite being skeptical about impeaching the president late last year, jumped quickly onto this bandwagon, saying that if Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet refused to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the president, Congress would “move forward with impeachment,” describing the current situation as an “emergency of the highest magnitude.” Schumer said, “If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president.”
The 25th Amendment allows the Vice President, along with half of the Cabinet members, to declare the President unfit for duty, at which point the Vice President would become Acting President. However, the President could object to Congress, at which point Congress would need to decide, with a two-thirds supermajority vote in both houses, whether or not the President is actually unfit for office.
It could be difficult to convince two-thirds of representatives to vote to declare the President is unfit for office, considering a majority of the House Republican Conference voted to object to electoral vote certification. Impeachment only requires a simple majority in the House, but a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict.
Vice President Mike Pence is said to oppose invoking the amendment, believing that it will cause more harm than good, and would invoke the far-right into causing more violence. This is despite a number of Cabinet secretaries informally discussing doing so.
On Twitter, Omar, one of the leading congresswomen calling for impeachment, said impeachment could happen as soon as tomorrow.
Most likely tomorrow.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 8, 2021
A conference call among the Democratic Caucus is expected to take place today at noon Eastern Time. This will be the first time the entire caucus convenes after the insurrection, and it is expected that many members will call for the House to reconvene and impeach the president.
Although presidential impeachments are usually monthslong affairs, the House, if they decide to begin impeachment, is expected to use several tactical maneuvers to fast-forward the process. By giving the impeachment resolution privileged status, it could take as little as a few days to be approved, as it would be able to skip hearings and committee votes. Schumer seemed to approve of this approach, saying that “we don’t need a lengthy debate.”
Even though current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (Schumer only becomes Majority Leader once Vice President Kamala Harris takes over on Jan. 20) could run out the clock and skip a vote due to Trump’s waning time in office, the Senate could still vote to convict once Trump leaves office. This happened when the House impeached Ulysses S. Grant’s secretary of war in 1876 even after he resigned, but was later acquitted by the Senate.
Impeaching President Trump would bar him from ever running for federal office again. Trump re-running in 2024 is a prospect that many Republicans, especially those who have been eying up a nomination, dread.
To finish, I’d like to leave you with the results of the following poll conducted by YouGov, a well-reputed polling firm, about what voters in a 1,397 voter survey thought of the insurgency at the U.S. Capitol. I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Whatever is the case, this president has clearly shown America, and the world, that he is incapable and unfit to serve as the President of the United States. If the Cabinet won’t act, Congress should immediately move forward to impeach the president for a second time.
Check out the 2020 election coverage page for more.
One thought on “Donald Trump Could Be Impeached Again”