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Trump impeachment 2.0: All you need to know about historic vote on January 13
House Democrats have introduced a single article of impeachment against US President Donald Trump, charging him with “incitement of insurrection”.
The US House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday on one article of impeachment against President Donald Trump after vice president Mike Pence rejected a resolution that called on him to invoke 25th Amendment of the Constitution. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Pence said that the 25th Amendment is not a means of "punishment or usurpation", and invoking it would set a "terrible precedent". Now that the Democrats have exhausted all options to remove Trump from the office, their initiative to impeach him for the second time has gathered momentum, with some House Republicans turning their back on the outgoing president.
What are the charges against Trump?
House Democrats have introduced a single article of impeachment against Trump, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” that led to the violence at the US Capitol on January 6 when the Congress was scheduled to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win. In the final text of the resolution to impeach the president, Democrats stated that Trump engaged in “high crimes and misdemeanours” by inciting violence against the government of the United States.
The Democrats have accused Trump of repeatedly issuing false statements in which he had asserted that the presidential election results were the product of widespread fraud. They have alleged that the outgoing president incited members of the crowd at The Ellipse in Washington, DC, in an attempt to interfere with the joint session of the US Congress.
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The impeachment article also mentions Trump’s previous efforts to overturn the election by attempting to obstruct the certification of the results. It highlights Trump’s phone call to the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, in which he was caught on tape urging the official to "find" enough votes to overturn the election results of the state.
“In all this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of Government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government. He thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” the text reads.
How likely is Trump’s impeachment?
The House of Representatives will vote on the article of impeachment and the majority of members would require to vote in favour to get Trump impeached for the second time during his four-year tenure. Though Republicans narrowed their disadvantage in the recently concluded House elections, Democrats held onto their majority.
While the House Republicans didn’t vote for Trump’s impeachment in 2019, three GOP colleagues have come up in support of his impeachment and removal from the office. Republican House members Liz Cheney, John Katko and Adam Kinzinger have said that they would vote for impeachment. It is now highly likely that Trump will get impeached by the House with Democratic majority, with additional support from some Republicans, making him the only president in the history of the United States to be impeached twice.
