House Democrats Move To Impeach Trump For The Second Time In Two Years

On Monday, House Democrats introduced a resolution that would call on Mike Pence to implement the 25th amendment, effectively claiming that Trump is unfit to hold office.

House Democrats are proceeding with plans to have President Trump removed from office in the final week of his term — either through impeachment or the 25th amendment. 

On Monday, House Democrats introduced a resolution that would call on Mike Pence to implement the 25th amendment, effectively claiming that Trump is unfit to hold office. The resolution, which required unanimous consent to pass, was objected to by Republican lawmakers. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had earlier told lawmakers that in the event of such an objection, the House would move to debate and vote on the resolution Tuesday. 

At the same time, Democrats have also introduced a resolution to impeach Trump again — the first time in American history that a president has been impeached twice. 

The resolution, which was drafted by Representatives David Ciclline (D-RI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Jerry Nadler (D-NY), charges that Trump “threatened the integrity of the democratic system,” and that he “will remain a threat to national security, democracy, and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office.” 

In an op-ed published this morning in the New York Times, Cicilline wrote that impeachment was not the Democrats’ first choice of action, but became more likely when Vice-president Mike Pence failed to convene the President’s cabinet to discuss removal from office — and when the president, himself, refused to resign. 

“The American people witnessed Mr. Trump’s actions for themselves. We all saw his speech on January 6. We watched fanatics storm the Capitol at his request. Five people died, including a U.S. Capitol Police office and four of the president’s supporters. We fear what Mr. Trump may do with his remaining time in office,” he wrote.  

“That is why we believe the article of impeachment should be voted on as soon as possible.”

While Democrats believe they have enough Republican support this time around to have Trump removed from office, the actual impeachment proceedings are most likely to convene during the Biden administration. Trump would fulfill the remaining week and a half of his term, but should the Senate vote to remove him from office, a subsequent majority vote could bar him from running for president in the future. 

This article has been updated to reflect that the Senate could vote to bar Trump from holding office in the future, and that removal alone is not enough to disqualify him.  


What Do You Think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *