Seven days before the end of Donald Trump’s term as President of the United States, the US House of Representatives voted tonight (Wednesday) to remove him from office due to his role in the Capitol riots last week, so masses of his supporters stormed Congress to prevent lawmakers from approving C. And Biden in the election.
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The accusation the Democrats made against Trump is “incitement to rebellion,” and since Democrats have a majority in the House of Representatives it was clear he would be approved by it, but this time 10 Republican deputies also joined them in support. In any case, the chances of the impeachment process being approved later in the Senate, where the support of two-thirds of the senators is needed, are extremely low, and in any case, Trump’s trial there is expected to open only after he finishes next week.
Capitol Hill Photo: Bloomberg
Democrats in the House of Representatives have decided to advance the impeachment process against Trump after Vice President Mike Pence announced last night that he would not respond to their call to enact the 25th Amendment to the constitution, which allows him to oust the president immediately, without lengthy procedure. The 25th Amendment to the Constitution should be implemented in the event that the President is not physically or mentally fit to perform the function, and for its operation the consent of half of the Cabinet is required.
“Trump invited the rioters and directed the rage”
At the opening of the session on Trump’s removal in the House of Representatives this afternoon, Democrat Axis Jim McGovern said: “We are discussing this historic move at the crime scene itself. It was a well-organized attack on our country, an attack that Donald Trump incited.” The leader of the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, Santi Hoyer, added: “The actions have consequences, and the actions of the President of the United States require urgent and clear action on the part of Congress.”
Donald Trump Photo: EPA California Representative Democrat Judy Choo called Trump supporters who broke into Congress “terrorists” at the hearing, saying Trump himself had put them through an extremist process: “The president consciously lied to his supporters that the election was stolen from him, then told them when to come to Washington, “Where to demonstrate and to whom to direct their anger. It is too dangerous to keep him in office. We must prosecute Donald Trump. We must oust him.”
Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi went on to speak, saying Trump is a “clear and immediate danger” to the United States: “We know that the President of the United States has incited this uprising, this armed uprising against our common country. He must go. “On his supporters who broke into the Capitol she said:” These rebels are not patriots. They are not part of a political base that needs to be wooed and run. They are terrorists at home, and justice must prevail. ”
The break into the Capitol Photo: Reuters On the other hand, Democrats in the House of Representatives who came up to speak in the debate warned that ousting Trump would only increase the division in the American people. Republican Rep. Tom Cole said the Capitol riots “will be remembered in my darkest day in my time as a congressman, but I can not think of an action that could divide the American people more than the one we are discussing today. Divide us even more. ”
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, for his part, stated in an unusual move that Trump was “responsible” for the attack on the Capitol and that he should have immediately come out and condemned the mob in the face of the events, but said he opposed such a quick impeachment process. .
Trial after the end of the priesthood
Trump is not only the third president in U.S. history to have been ousted from the House of Representatives, tonight he also became the first U.S. president to be promoted twice: last year the House of Representatives voted in favor of ousting him in the Ukraine Gate affair, in which he was allegedly tried. Encourage the President of Ukraine to advance an investigation against his political rival Joe Biden and thus influence the outcome of the US election. The Senate, where there was then a Republican majority of 6 lawmakers, acquitted him.
In the next Senate, the seats will be split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats, and since a conviction for the outgoing president requires a two-thirds majority of the members, that means Democrats will have to find 17 Republican senators who will agree to vote for Trump’s conviction. So far only four Republican senators have signaled that they are willing to support the move.
The Senate is on leave until Jan. 19, and by Jan. 20, next Wednesday, Biden will already be sworn in as the new president. Amid reports tonight that the Senate may rush and convene as early as next Friday to open the Trump trial, so a vote on his conviction or acquittal is possible as early as Monday, Senate Democrat leader Mitch McConnell made it clear he has no intention of allowing it. This means that the trial will probably only begin after Trump has already finished his term.
In any case, if Democrats surprisingly get a sufficient majority in the Senate to convict Trump, and that happens only after the end of his term, it will have no merely symbolic significance: Trump’s conviction in the Senate will also allow senators to vote on a separate decision. Such a move would prevent him from running for president again in 2024 – a run that Trump has already signaled he is seriously considering.