House plans historic impeachment vote
The sun peeks through over the winter landscape in Bristol, Vermont. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
The U.S. House of Representatives plans to hold a vote to impeach President Donald Trump (R) for a second time on Wednesday morning — a week after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The Jan. 6 siege left five people dead.
Lawmakers that same night returned to the Capitol to complete the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory, and in the days following, the calls for Trump's removal increased.
The impeachment resolution the House introduced Monday charges Trump with "incitement of insurrection" because of last week's invasion of the Capitol. After weeks of falsely claiming the election was stolen and offering no evidence, Trump spoke to thousands of supporters near the White House on Jan. 6, urging them to "fight like hell". If the vote to impeach succeeds, Trump would become the first president to be impeached twice.
On Monday, House Democrats tried to fast-track a resolution requesting that Vice President Mike Pence activate the 25th Amendment. That option requires a majority vote of the president's Cabinet in order to remove the president. House Republicans blocked the resolution, delaying it a day. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told CBS' 60 Minutes that she prefers the 25th Amendment but will move ahead with impeachment if Pence doesn't take action.
"This president is guilty of inciting insurrection, and he has to pay a price for that," Pelosi said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and a number of other Republicans have worried that impeaching Trump now would only deepen divisions in the country. According to CNN, McCarthy, in a letter to GOP colleagues, suggested other possibilities, including "a resolution of censure under the rules of the House."
But if the House impeaches the president, it may wait until after Jan. 20 to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial. At that point, Democrats would hold the majority in that chamber.
"Let's give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running, and maybe we'll send the articles sometime after that," said U.S. Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the House majority whip, told CNN.
Federal investigations are underway, and the FBI has received over 50,000 tips about the rioters. The FBI has warned that "armed protests" are being planned in all 50 state capitols and Washington, D.C., between Jan. 16 and Jan. 20, media reports confirmed. The Department of Homeland Security is beginning heightened security for inauguration day this week.
On Sunday, veteran journalist Dan Rather explained to the PBS NewsHour his recent statement that "we must cultivate hope while we demand justice." He noted that Biden’s first two priorities will be the pandemic and the economic damage done by it.
"I do think we have to keep our hopes alive and realize we are a very resilient people," Rather said. "We can do this."
At the same time, he said accountability is important in a situation like the Capitol breach, whatever legal avenue that takes.
"There can't be hope for moving into the future, unless we adjust ourselves, and address ourselves, to justice," Rather said.
— Gareth Henderson
