On January 6th, the U.S. Capitol faced a large-scale breach for the first time since the War of 1812. Instead of British troops, those illegally entering the Capitol building were American citizens. Pushing through barriers and police officers, many of these rioters invaded with the belief that they were stopping a fraudulent certification of electoral votes. Once inside, they vandalized and looted the building. Although by the end of the day, the Capitol building was again secure, this event resulted in the deaths of five people, countless injuries, and a nation wondering what to do next.
Before this insurrection at the Capitol began, President Donald Trump held a rally in which he claimed that the election was “stolen by emboldened radical Democrats”. He encouraged supporters to head towards the Capitol, where electoral votes would be certified by Vice President Mike Pence, by saying, “We’re going to walk down… to the Capitol and we are going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. And we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them. Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.” Only a few hours later, rioters entered the House chamber, the Senate floor, and Congress members’ offices. During this time, Trump took to Twitter at first to urge rioters to stay peaceful, but then to request that they leave entirely in a video in which he stated, “We love you, you’re very special... I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace.” Trump’s role in the events of January 6th led many to call for his resignation and/or removal from office.
Following these calls, House Democrats introduced two pieces of legislation: an article of impeachment and a resolution calling for Trump to be removed using the 25th Amendment. Invoking the 25th Amendment would have required the vice president to mobilize the Cabinet to declare that Trump was “unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office" and remove him from office. After the resolution passed 223-205 in the House, Mike Pence refused to invoke the Amendment. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he explained that he did not believe that “such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution”. With this decision, the House moved forward to vote on impeaching Trump, only a year after the president’s first impeachment failed to lead to a conviction.
The article of impeachment, introduced by Democratic congressmen David Cicilline, Jamie Raskin, and Ted Lieu, charges Trump with “incitement of insurrection”. The document cites section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against'' the United States from “hold[ing] any office… under the United States.” It argues that Trump was responsible for the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th and that his actions should disqualify him from being able to hold office again. To back up this claim, the document describes how Trump made false statements about the election and encouraged Americans to not accept its outcome. It also mentions Trump’s phone call to Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia, on January 2nd. During this phone call, Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” more votes and change the results of the election in his favor. Before directly calling for his impeachment, the article of impeachment argues, “In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States''.
The House of Representatives voted 232-197 in favor of this article of impeachment. Democrats argued that impeachment was necessary because it would hold Donald Trump accountable for his actions and prevent a precedent of impunity for future presidents to follow. They voted unanimously in favor of impeachment. Republicans argued against impeachment by claiming that it is unconstitutional to impeach a president who is no longer in office. They also hold that a trial against Donald Trump will further divide the country. A majority of Republicans voted against impeachment, although they were less consistent than their Democratic counterparts. Ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump, the most ever from a president’s own party and a startling change from their unanimous rejection of impeachment in 2019.
Following the House’s impeachment, the Senate is responsible for holding a trial against the president and determining if he should be convicted. In order to convict a president, a two-thirds majority must vote in favor of it. The Senate is currently split 50-50 between the Democrats and Republicans, meaning that Democrats would have to vote uniformly and gain the vote of 17 Republican senators to convict Trump. In 2019, only one Republican senator, Mitt Romney, voted to convict, although more Republicans appear to be open to voting for a conviction this time as two Republican senators have already called for Trump’s resignation. If the Senate votes to convict, it’s likely that a second vote (requiring only a simple majority) on whether or not to disqualify Donald Trump from holding office will occur shortly afterward.
The impeachment trial is expected to begin the week of February 8th. The delay in preceding has bipartisan support, as Republicans want to give Trump time to prepare and Democrats want to allow some of Joe Biden’s Cabinet confirmations and legislation to be decided on before the trial. For now, the country will have to wait to see if this second presidential impeachment will lead to the first presidential conviction.
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