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- Donald Trump has become the first President in U.S. history to be impeached twice, after the House of Representative voted in favour of the charge
- The Houses voted 232 to 197 to impeach Trump, exactly one week on from the deadly insurrection which saw multiple people killed
- Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the outgoing President, who’s being blamed for inciting the attack last week
- But, today’s second impeachment motion won’t remove Trump from office before January 20 — the date of Joe Biden’s inauguration
- Senate Leader Mitch McConnell argues more time is needed to run a trial and the Biden will almost certainly be sworn in first
Donald Trump has become the first President in U.S. history to be impeached twice, following a vote in the House of Representatives.
Impeachment
The Houses voted 232 to 197 in favour of a single article of impeachment — a formal charge accusing Trump of “incitement of insurrection”.
Both Republicans and Democrats voted against the outgoing President today, one week on from the deadly attack on Congress.
Trump extremists violently stormed the Capitol as the members inside were trying to confirm Joe Biden’s Presidential win.
The death toll from the attack stands at five, while the President’s involvement with the attack has made him the first leader to ever be impeached twice.
What next?
Despite today’s impeachment, Trump is unlikely to be removed from power before his term ends on January 20 and Joe Biden is sworn in.
Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has decided that the chamber would not be able to run a “quick” trial before the President has left office.
“Even if the Senate process were to begin this week and move promptly, no final verdict would be reached until after President Trump had left office,” he stated.
“This is not a decision I am making; it is a fact. The President-elect himself stated last week that his inauguration on January 20 is the ‘quickest’ path for any change in the occupant of the presidency,” he added.
Significantly though, McConnell has not ruled out voting in favour of impeaching Trump once the trial begins.
If the 45th President is impeached, he will be effectively be barred from running for the Presidency again.
