Explainer: Howimpeachment could go faster,
WASHINGTON — When some Democrats were pushing for President Donald Trump’s impeachment in early 2019, it took around five months for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to back the idea.
This time, it only took a day.
After coming out strongly Thursday in support of Trump’s removal, Pelosi said Sunday the House will proceed with legislation to impeach Trump a second time after pro-Trump supporters violently breached and ransacked the Capitol. The riotsWednesday came after Trump egged on the crowd at a rally near the White House.
Pelosi made the announcement in a letter to colleagues. She said the House will “act with urgency.” A congressional effort to impeach Trump would be unlikely to remove him from the White House before he has to vacate it Jan. 20 when President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. There’s little chance that the Republican-led Senate would hold a trial and vote on a verdict in less than two weeks.
Still, action by the House would make Trump the first president in history to be impeached twice. And it could include a ban on holding public office, ending Trump’s ability to run again in 2024.
A look at how impeachment works, and what Congress can do in the short amount of time until Trump’s term ends:
Thebasicsof impeachment
In normal order, there would be an impeachment investigation and the evidence would be sent to the House Judiciary Committee, whichwould hold hearings, draft articles and send them to the full house. That’swhat happened in 2019, when the House impeached Trump over his dealings with the president of Ukraine. It took three months.
This time, with so few days to move — and a feeling among Democrats that there is little need to investigatewhat happened, since most members of Congress were in the Capitol when the mob broke in — Pelosi would likely hold a floor vote with no hearings or committee action.
Once the House votes to impeach, the articles and evidence are sent to the Senate, where a trial is held and there are final votes to convict or acquit, as the Senate did in early February of last year.
Whatabout the 25thAmendment?
Pelosi said that before proceeding with impeachment, the House today will try to force Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to oust Trump by invoking the 25th Amendment.
The 25th Amendment allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president unfit for office, and the vice president then becomes acting president.
Despite widespread discontent with Trump’s actions, there appears to be little chance of a Cabinet insurrection, especially after a slew of officials resigned in the wake of the Capitol riots.
Aquickimpeachmentvote
Any member of the House can introduce articles of impeachment and trigger a procedural process that allows them to be considered almost immediately. Approving them takes only the majority. Democrats narrowly control the House, 222-211.
DemocraticReps. David Cicilline ofRhode Island, Jamie Raskin ofMaryland and Ted Lieu of California have circulated an article of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power and are expected to introduce it today — meaning a vote could come as soon as midweek. They could also consider moving the articles through regular
order, which could still be done quickly.
‘Abuseofpower’
The article of impeachment circulated by the three Democrats charges Trump with abuse of power and says he “willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol.”
It says the behavior is consistent with Trump’s prior efforts to “subvert and obstruct” the results of the election and references his recent call with the Georgia Secretary of State, inwhich he said he wanted to find more votes after losing the state to Biden.
Trump has falsely claimed there was widespread fraud in the election, and the baseless claims have been repeatedly echoed by congressional Republicans.
“In all of this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government,” the Democratic draft reads. “He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and imperiled a coordinate branch of government. He thereby betrayed his trust as president.”
Senatepolitics
House Democrats were expected to introduce articles of impeachment today. The strategy would be to condemn the president’s actions swiftly but delay an impeachment trial in the Senate for 100 days. Thatwould allowPresident-elect Joe Biden to focus on other priorities as soon as he is inaugurated Jan. 20.
“Let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running,” said Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat.
Two-thirds of the Senate is needed to convict, and thiswould be unlikely. While manyRepublican senators have disparaged Trump’s actions, several have already said they think impeachmentwould divide the country even further.
Still, some Republicans have appeared open to impeachment. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who voted to acquit Trump last year, said he will “definitely consider” impeachment. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who also voted to acquit, said that she wants Trump to resign.
Only one Republican voted to convict Trump last year — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney.
What itwouldmean
Republicans, even thosewho have criticized Trump, say impeachment would be unhelpful. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it would do “more harm than good.”
But Democrats say they believe they have to try anyway.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted on Friday that some people might ask why they would try to impeach a president with only a few days left in office.
“The answer: Precedent,” he said. “It must bemade clear that no president, now or in the future, can lead an insurrection against the U.S. government.”