The House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump, accusing him of ‘inciting an insurrection against the United States government’. Trump has made history by becoming the first president to be impeached twice.
On 7th January 2021, pro-trump insurrectionists attacked the capitol leading to 4 casualties and over 60 arrests, while the Congress was affirming the electoral college votes in the favor of President-elect Joe Biden. This is the second time that Donald Trump has been impeached by the house. In 2019, Trump was impeached for the accusation of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He allegedly made the corrupt use of his political tie ups to secure election assistance from Ukraine to outdo his Democratic opponent.
Donald Trump is the third U.S. President to be impeached. Before him the other two presidents who faced consequences for unacceptable demeanor and exploitation of power were Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998.
The article of impeachment was introduced in the House by the Democrats but what made the move historic is the fact that more Republicans came forward to vote in favor of removing Donald Trump from office than ever in the American history.
More Republicans came forward to impeach Trump than ever
A drastic shift in the vote trend was witnessed from 2019 when Trump was first impeached. During the last impeachment, not even a single Republican voted in favor of the president’s impeachment. However, this time, as many as 10 Republicans casted their support to remove the president from office and the count seems strong in the Senate too.
Representative John Katko was the first Republican to openly express his disappointment and rage further casting his vote to impeach Donald Trump.
He was followed by nine other Republicans who are Representative Liz Cheney from Wyoming, Representative Adam Kinzinger from Illinois, Representative Fred Upton from Michigan, Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler from Washington, Representative Dan Newhouse from Washington, Representative Anthony Gonzalez from Ohio, Representative Peter Meijer from Michigan, Representative Tom Rice from South Carolina and Representative David Valadao from California
Trump is Impeached — But it’s still a long road ahead…
The House of Representative has impeached Trump. However, this doesn’t result in the removal of Donald Trump from the oval. From here, the impeachment procedure is dealt by the Senate. Donald Trump will face a trial in the Senate and two roads diverge to decide the fate of the accused.
If the article of impeachment is sent immediately to the Senate, the trial will be led by the Republicans which is highly unlikely since Mitch McConnell has announced that the Senate won’t hold any session further till 19th January. If this happens, Donald Trump will not be impeached.
However, if the article is withheld until change in Senate control, then the trial will be led by Democrats. After the Democrats win in Georgia, Republican is no longer going to hold the majority in the Senate. Later this month, the power is going to vest with Democrats in the Senate. If the article is transferred after the shift of power in the Senate, the trial will begin immediately and voting will be held to convict or acquit the former president Trump.
If Trump is held guilty by the Senate, he will lose all the benefits that the former presidents of the country receive and will also be prohibited from contesting elections again.
However, the problem with the impeachment process is that, though the reason for the onset of impeachment is criminal, the nature of the process is political. And hence, it can be influenced by lobbying and political tie-ups.
