updating: Ten Republicans joined members of the House of Representatives and voted to oust President Donald Trump. 232 members of Congress voted in favor of his removal, 197 voted against and 5 abstained. In doing so, Trump became the first president in American history to be ousted twice in that term, and in general.
The wheels have already begun to move, the Imperial Chariot has set off and can no longer be stopped except by the Republican Senate members. When it comes to the immediate term, the future is pretty clear.
● The options facing Congress to punish Trump for attacking the Capitol
Is there a chance for such a procedure? How does the rinsing process work? Is that the only way to oust him? On what sections do you want to oust him? Does the proceedings in Congress then preclude legal proceedings in court? Is it possible to block Trump from running for president in the future? And can Trump pardon himself? Globes makes an order.
How does the rinsing process work?
The dismissal begins with a vote in the House of Representatives on the dismissal clauses. That is, on a list of charges against the president. If the vote passes by a simple majority – more than 50% – the president is removed and referred to a Senate hearing. After the hearing, the Senate votes on whether to convict him and thus remove him from office.
For a removal from the White House, a two-thirds majority in the Senate is required. In the first impeachment process that began in September 2019 and ended in February 2020, Republicans controlled the Senate so even though the House of Representatives, which was controlled by Democrats, voted in favor of impeachment, Trump then remained in power.
On what counts can Trump be ousted for his part in the Capitol riots?
The exact and final wording of the clauses is still unknown, but members of the House of Representatives have passed drafts between them that include the accusation that President Donald Trump “revolted and incited violence against the U.S. government.”
Against the backdrop of the indictment, disturbances on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, in which five people were killed, dozens injured and members of Congress forced to hide while Trump-supporters demonstrators walk around with batons, vest sticks and other weapons. All this, shortly after Trump delivered a speech to his supporters in which he urged a crowd of many thousands “to ascend the Capitol.”
The drafts also mention the phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rapensperger, from whom Trump sought to “find” more than 11,000 votes to turn Biden’s victory in the state election.
Is impeachment the only way?
There have been calls for Trump to amend the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the removal of an incumbent president through cabinet ministers and led by the vice president. But for that, as mentioned, the consent of Vice President Mike Pence is needed – and it did not happen.
Therefore, many Democrats, who take Trump’s actions very seriously as an action that undermines the foundations of democratic institutions and democracy in general, believe that he should be removed from power immediately. After the 25th Amendment, an impeachment procedure is their second preferred option.
In recent days, many Democrats in Congress have stressed that the importance of ousting the president just days before Biden’s inauguration is in setting a precedent that will warn other presidents in the future.
Can Trump be barred from running for president in 2024?
Senate members have a constitutionally protected option to block people from running for public office if there is a solid reason to do so. Had senators voted to remove the de facto president, they could also vote to block him from running for an elected post in the future. In one difference, such a vote requires a simple majority and not a two-thirds relative majority. In the past the Senate has taken this measure several times but never against an incumbent president.
Oddly enough, a presidential removal process in the United States can continue even after the end of his term but it is not clear what will happen if Trump is convicted after the end of his term. There are many legal experts who argue that the Senate’s decision to oust Trump after President Biden is sworn in means he will not be able to run for president later.
In the American Civil War there was a general named William Blanap who served as Secretary of War and was dismissed by the House of Representatives after resigning. But when the case reached the Senate, he acquitted the general. There is no precedent for conviction.
“The special penalties for conviction and impeachment are intended to protect the Republic precisely from those people who exploit public power so disgracefully that there should be no future possibility of holding public power again,” Michael J. Gerhardt, a professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina, told CNN this week.
“It should be clear that if the dismissal procedure begins when a person is still in office, the procedure may continue even after the person resigns or leaves for some other reason.”
It should be noted that when the two new Democratic senators from Georgia are sworn in, the Democratic Party will have a narrow majority in the Senate plus Vice President Camela Harris.
Is it possible to sue Trump for his role in inciting riots on Capitol Hill?
Because the dismissal is not a legal proceeding, there is no danger of a “double jeopardy” (double prosecution for the same charge, which is banned in the US) – that is, it will still be possible to sue Trump for the acts he is dismissed.
The U.S. Constitution addresses this directly: “The convicted party on dismissal may still be expected to file an indictment, trial, sentence and sentence as stated in the law.”
The million dollar question: Will he be expelled and expelled from the White House?
Calculating the balance of votes in Congress will not reveal much until there is a vote, but Trump is likely to be the first president to be ousted twice in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. In addition, some Republicans have already expressed their consent to the removal so that the chances of that happening in the House of Representatives are very high.
The Senate, however, is a whole other story. First of all because in the upper house of Congress two-thirds of senators are required to vote for the removal of a president.
By the time Biden enters the White House, the Senate will be under Republican control. Then, thanks to the two new Democratic senators from Georgia, Biden will have a narrow majority in the Senate. To oust the president requires another 17 Republican senators. A task that some consider impossible even though many Republicans have expressed disgust at the president’s behavior regarding the Capitol events – before, during and after. To date, Trump has not expressed minimal responsibility for events that have stunned the United States and the world at large.
Can Trump pardon himself?
Dismissal is something that cannot be forgiven. The constitution explicitly prohibits this.
Will he keep his benefits?
When a U.S. president retires, he is entitled to a variety of benefits at the taxpayer’s expense — including a $ 200,000-a-year pension, an annual $ 1 million travel grant, and money to fund a team of advisers. However, the Presidents’ Act of 1958 states that these benefits will not be given to any president who is removed from office after he is removed.
So if Trump is convicted in the Senate and removed – before or after the end of his term – it will have not only political implications but also financial implications.