Impeachment: Round Two

Illustration%3A+CNN.com

Illustration: CNN.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On January 13th, 45th President Donald J. Trump was impeached for the charge of Incitement of Insurrection. This comes after the January 6th Capitol riot, where a group of fanatic right wing extremists stormed the Capitol building.

This is not the first time President Trump has been impeached, just a year ago, in December of 2019, he was impeached for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Justice. That impeachment attempt passed the House with a 230-197 vote on the former article and 229 and 198 vote on the latter, but died in the Senate 48-52 and 47-53 back in January of 2020.

The current impeachment has made it past the House with a vote of 232 in favor versus 197 against. This vote was shockingly bipartisan, with more than 10 Republicans voting in favor, including Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, among others. This sets the impeachment apart from others in the past, all of which have been strongly partisan.

The impeachment will continue soon in the Senate, now controlled by Democrats who won the majority with both the election of Georgians Jon Ossoff and the Reverend Raphael Warnock, and newly inaugurated Vice President Kamala Harris as a tiebreaker. 

Impeachment trials in the Senate require a supermajority of 67 votes to pass. This means 17 Republicans would have to vote in league with their Democrat colleagues. The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has reportedly told his party members to make a “vote of conscience” instead of a vote of party. So, while it would be unexpected for the Senate to convict Trump, it is still possible. 

If Trump is convicted, Congress can pass a resolution barring Trump from running from political office ever again. Some Democrats believe this is the only way for America to heal from the past four years. With the division that came as a result of the Trump administration, this may very well be true. However, Republicans are calling this impeachment a “witch hunt” much like the first impeachment and the Mueller investigation that found evidence of Russian agents assisting the Trump campaign in 2016.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi delivered the Articles to the Senate yesterday, and the trial will likely continue next month.