US House impeaches Trump for ‘inciting’ US Capitol riot
…Ten Republicans vote for his impeachment
By Ayo Fadimu with Agency Report
The US House of Representa tives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time – making him the only US president axzZZZZXever impeached twice.
Ten Republicans sided with Democrats to impeach the president by 232-197.
The impeachment resolution the House voted on charges Trump with a single article, “incitement of insurrection” for his role in last week’s deadly Capitol riot.
He is the first president in US history to be impeached twice, or charged with crimes by Congress.
President Trump, a Republican, will now face a trial in the Senate, where if convicted he could face being barred from ever holding office again.
But Trump will not have to quit the White House before his term in office ends in one week because the Senate will not reconvene in time.
Mr Trump will leave office on 20 January, following his election defeat last November to Democrat Joe Biden.
There is no such thing as a routine impeachment but this one is unprecedented in all sorts of ways.
The overall impeachment process laid out in the Constitution is relatively simple:
A president commits “high Crime or Misdemeanor.”
The House votes to impeach.
The Senate conducts a trial.
This impeachment process will feel entirely new and different from the one we saw in late 2019 around the Ukraine investigation, most notably because the Senate trial is expected to occur after Trump leaves office.
Ten Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting in favor of the impeachment resolution.
They are:
- Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington
- Rep. John Katko of New York
- Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington
- Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
- Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan
- Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming
- Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan
- Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
- Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina
- Rep. David Valadao of California
In the meantime, the impeachment article will head to the Senate, which will hold a trial to determine the president’s guilt.
A two-thirds majority is needed to convict Trump, meaning at least 17 Republicans would have to vote with Democrats in the evenly split, 100-seat upper chamber.
As many as 20 Senate Republicans are open to convicting the president, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
If President Trump is convicted by the Senate, lawmakers could hold another vote to block him from running for elected office again – which he has indicated he planned to do in 2024.
But the trial will not come during his remaining week in office.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement: “Given the rules, procedures, and Senate precedents that govern presidential impeachment trials, there is simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before President-elect Biden is sworn in next week.”
He said it would best serve the interests of the nation if Congress focused on a safe and orderly transition of power for the incoming Biden administration.
