Trump nears historic second impeachment
MCCONNELL REJECTS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE SENATE TRIAL
As the House of Representatives moved yesterday towards a vote to make Donald Trump the first US president to be impeached twice, the Senate’s top Republican rejected an immediate trial, all but ensuring Trump will not be ousted before his term ends next week.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the chamber’s top Democrat Chuck Schumer that he was unwilling to call an emergency session to consider removing Trump from office, a spokesman said.
‘ Incitement of insurrection’
The House prepared to vote on a single article of impeachment — a formal charge — accusing Trump of “incitement of insurrection” just a week after a pro- Trump mob rampaged through the US Capitol.
“The president incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
Democratic congressman Julian Castro called Trump “the most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office”.
What happens next?
Impeachment in the House triggers a trial in the Senate. A two- thirds majority in the Republicanled Senate would be needed to convict and remove Trump, meaning at least 17 Republicans in the 100- member chamber would have to join the Democrats. McConnell has said no trial could begin until the Senate reconvenes on January 19, only a day before Biden’s inauguration. The trial would proceed in the Senate even after Trump leaves office.
In a statement yesterday, Trump urged his supporters to remain peaceful, saying, “I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for,” he said.
There’s usually people walking all over the place ( in downtown Washington). This is very, very quiet. I almost think it’s like a ghost of itself.”
Jaime | A Maryland resident
Lawmakers walked among armed National Guard patrols in the halls of the US Capitol yesterday, as downtown Washington was fenced off and boarded up while Congress weighed a historic second impeachment of President Donald Trump.
The city at the heart of American democracy has been a shadow of itself during pandemic shutdowns, but now it is also under heavy guard after Trump supporters’ deadly attack on the Congress building.
Dozens of National Guard members in body armour and camouflage could be seen asleep or resting on floors inside the Capitol, their black rifles leaning against the polished stone walls of the building’s halls.
Lawmakers are back in the building to decide whether to formally accuse the president of inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol last week in a failed effort to stop Congress from finalising Trump’s November loss to Joe Biden.
The building’s grounds are ringed by a security fence erected after the attack, similar to the one put up around the White House months ago when protests erupted nationwide against police killings of African Americans. The capital of the United States, known for its historical monuments and crowds of tourists, has had a rough ride over the past 12months.
‘ Ghost of itself’
Navigating the once humming downtown on foot, it is difficult to tell which buildings have been shuttered by the pandemic and which simply shut up shop due to the violent protests the city has been seeing.
“This is my first time ( in downtown Washington) in a year. There’s usually people walking all over the place. This is very, very quiet. I almost think it’s like a ghost of itself,” said Jaime, amother from Maryland who did not wish to give her full name. Hordes of schoolchildren who normally travel from all over the country to visit museums and see the White House now stay away, as do most foreign tourists.
The hectic jostle of politicians, lobbyists and lawyers on the street has also fallen quiet, while the large metro stations that bring workers in from suburbs are quiet and little- used.
The city of more than 700,000 inhabitants is subdued, oneweek before the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden on the steps of the Capitol.
Signing in from home
“The city is basically desolate,” said Nadine Seiler, 55, who has been demonstrating every day since the end of October near the White House in favour of anti- racist causes. Usually it’s very stressful, but here it’s like everybody’s away on vacation,” she added. As in many Western cities, many workers have been signing in from home — especially staff at big institutions headquartered in Washington such as the World Bank and the IMF, as well as the countless government agencies.
Eateries must try to survive by erecting tents and marquees along sidewalks, and tempting customers to sit down next to heaters of varying efficiency battling the winter cold. According to the specialist site Eater, nearly 70 restaurants have permanently closed in Washington since the start of the pandemic, and many others are boarded up without any certainty they will ever reopen.
Crowds cheering the inauguration on January 20will be thin on the ground, with authorities urging Americans to avoid the city, fearing more violence.—