With nine days left in office, House Democrats formally introduced an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump. He was charged with inciting violence against the government of the United States.
Last week hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol while Congress was holding a joint session to certify the 2020 Presidential election. Five people, including a Capitol Police Officer, died as a result of the riot. Since then many lawmakers including Senators Pat Toomey and Lisa Murkowski have been calling for Trump to be removed from office immediately.
According to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, he says a vote on Trump’s impeachment will take place Wednesday. Hoyer told reporters “because the timeframe is so short and the need is so immediate and an emergency, we will also proceed on a parallel path in terms of impeachment.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday night, “if Trump doesn’t resign and if Vice President Mike Pence refuses to invoke the 25th amendment, the House will have no other choice but to vote on the article.”
The article drafted by Representatives David Cicilline (R.I), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Jamie Raskin (Md.) and Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) stated Trump “willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol, such as: ‘If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.’ Thus incited by President Trump, members of the crowd he had addressed, in an attempt to, among other objectives, interfere with the Joint Session’s solemn constitutional duty to certify the results of the 2020 Presidential election…”
Although some lawmakers argue Trump should be impeached immediately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes the Senate would not be able to meet the House’s ideal timeline for an impeachment trial.
At the earliest, a full session considering Trump’s impeachment would take place January 19, which is the day before Biden’s inauguration. House impeachment managers would then present the impeachment articles on the January 19 or 20. That leaves a trial date for January 20 or 21.
Many are concerned that holding an impeachment trial right before or around the inauguration could pose as a major challenge for the Biden administration.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told the Associated Press that he thinks it would be better to wait until Biden has been in office for at least 100 days before starting Trump’s impeachment trial thus ensuring, if Trump is convicted, that he could be barred from holding federal elected office again.