US House impeaches Trump again
THERE was deep silence on the House floor as the gavel struck on December 13 heralding the second impeachment of US President Donald Trump. With hands clasped atop a lectern on which rested the results of the chamber’s historic vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the charges, making Trump the only president in US history to be impeached twice, this time for “incitement of insurrection” against the Capitol.
During the document’s subsequent sober signing, the mood was a far cry from Trump’s first impeachment, when Pelosi signed the document with multiple pens, distributing them to elected Democrats with a smile.
As if to emphasise t he occasion’s solemnit y, Pelosi, who is k nown for her bright suits, opted for t he same dark outfit she wore for Trump’s first impeachment on December 18, 2019 – a look equally if not more befitting a f uneral.
The 45th president, she told her colleagues, had incited “insurrection” and “armed rebellion” in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Trump, she emphasised, “must go, he is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love”.
The violence left five people dead and shook the nation to its core.
It was i n the same chamber, exactly one week prior, that law makers were forced to ta ke shelter, ly ing on the ground as pro-Trump demonstrators tried to force t heir way i n through barricaded doors.
Seven days later, the scene was much calmer but still markedly abnormal: A perceptible hush permeated the usually bustling marbled corridors, where statues and paintings reference the nation’s storied past.
Armed members of the National
Guard were omnipresent, hav ing spent the night on the ground in the building’s famed centra l rotunda and elsewhere in its halls.
In addition to t heir indoor patrol was a massive outdoor presence on and surrounding t he Capitol’s grounds, where armored vehicles and concrete barriers framed t he vast area surrounding “the people’s house,” as the building is k nown.
The Covid-19 pandemic has only added an additional unusual element, with fewer lawmakers gathered on the House floor and the building’s usual flurry of activity long stifled since before the attack.
In t he front row as Pelosi announced the vote’s results was Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester standing solemn a longside ot her elected officia ls. During t he siege, she prayed
a loud while ta k ing ref uge in t he galler y overlook ing t he House floor, as armed guards tried to prevent Trump supporters from entering.
That day’s terrifying memory hung in the air during the December 13 proceedings, but didn’t stop biting exchanges and even boos from punctuating lawmakers’ emotional speeches, as Trump’s staunchest supporters and Democrats butted heads.