USA TODAY International Edition
Impeachment vote divides the GOP
Lawmakers make note of their duty amid division
WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time, a move that drew support from a handful of Republicans who agreed that Trump incited violence at the Capitol last week.
Trump was impeached on an insurrection charge after 232 members of Congress voted for it and 197 voted against.
The article of impeachment was debated one week after a deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the day Congress counted the Electoral College votes for President- elect Joe Biden’s win. The rampage that interrupted the count left one police officer dead, a rioter fatally shot and three others dead from medical emergencies.
The article of impeachment charges the president with “incitement of insurrection” for “spreading false statements” about the election and challenging the Electoral College results.
Republicans vote to impeach
Though Republicans were united in opposing the first impeachment of Trump in 2019, 10 broke ranks Wednesday.
They included the third- ranking House Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming. She was joined by: h Rep. John Katko, R- N. Y. h Rep. Fred Upton, R- Mich. h Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, RWash. h Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R- Ill. h Rep. Dan Newhouse, R- Wash. h Rep. Peter Meijer, R- Mich. h Rep. Tom Rice, R- S. C. h Rep. David Valadao, R- Calif. h Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R- Ohio “The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” Cheney said in a statement. “Everything that followed was his doing.”
Cheney’s words became a key argument for Democrats as they urged their Republican colleagues to join them in voting for impeachment.
“This is not some irresponsible new member of the Congress of the United States. This is the daughter of the former Republican whip and a former vice
president of the United States of America,” Majority Leader Steney Hoyer, DMd., said of his Republican colleague from Wyoming whose father is former Vice President Dick Cheney. “She knows of what she speaks.”
Cheney’s support for impeachment drew condemnation from fellow Republicans such as Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who called for her to step down.
Cheney said Wednesday she would not give up her position in party leadership.
“Last week, there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol, and he did nothing to stop it. That is why with a heavy heart and clear resolve, I will vote yes on these articles of impeachment,” Newhouse said to applause from the Democratic side of the House.
Newhouse said that although the article of impeachment is flawed, “there’s no excuse for President Trump’s actions.”
Four House Republicans skipped Wednesday’s impeachment vote: Reps. Kay Granger of Texas, Andy Harris of Maryland, Greg Murphy of North Carolina and Daniel Webster of Florida. Harris said he decided to take care of patients rather than vote. Murphy skipped the vote to take care of his wife, who just had back surgery. Webster said there were “family medical obligations.” A Granger spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Others call impeachment divisive
Though some Republicans split with their party, the majority opposed impeachment, and many argued that removing Trump from office would further splinter an already divided country. Others said Trump’s efforts to question the election results and stoke a violent mob require a response.
Rep. Tom McClintock, R- Calif., said Trump gave a fiery speech outside the White House before the crowd rioted in the Capitol, but he shouldn’t be blamed for the “lunatic fringe” of his political movement.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R- Calif., said Trump bears some responsibility for the riot, which he called “undemocratic, un- American and criminal,” but “impeaching the president in such a short time frame would be a mistake.”
“A vote to impeach will further divide the nation. A vote to impeach will further fan the flames of partisan division,” he said.
McCarthy said Trump should have immediately denounced the mob. He said the president should work to quell brewing unrest and ensure a peaceful transition to Biden.
A censure resolution would be prudent instead of impeachment, McCarthy said. Censuring the president would deliver a formal reprimand to Trump, but Republicans such as Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs are opposed to that measure as well.
Some House Republicans argued Wednesday that instead of impeaching Trump, Congress should create a commission to study what happened. Modeled after the bipartisan commission that analyzed the 9/ 11 terrorism attacks, the body would recommend how to prevent attacks on the Capitol.
The top Republican on the House Rules Committee urged lawmakers not to move forward with a snap impeachment, saying it would deny Trump due process.
“Rather than seeking to heal America, they’re trying to divide us more deeply,” Rep. Tom Cole, R- Okla., said as the House set up rules for debate on the impeachment resolution.
Dems stress moving swiftly
The last time Trump was impeached, it took months. Democrats said a long inquiry wasn’t needed this time.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D- Calif., said there was no need for a review of the facts and evidence required in previous cases.
“What happened this time was in plain view,” Lofgren said. “He incited a right- wing mob of insurrections to come and overturn constitutional government a week ago. You don’t need a long investigation to find that out.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., quoted President Abraham Lincoln, St. Paul from the Bible and President John F. Kennedy in arguing that lawmakers bear a responsibility to remove Trump’s threat to the country. “He must go,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
Although Trump has only days left in his presidency, House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler, D- N. Y., said he poses a continuing threat to the nation, to the integrity of elections and to democratic order.
“He must not remain in power one moment longer,” Nadler said.
“Is there little time left? Yes,” Hoyer said. “But it is never too late to do the right thing.”
Trump impeached twice
House Democrats impeached Trump in December 2019 on charges that he abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress in his dealings with Ukraine. The Republican- led Senate acquitted him in February 2020.
He was accused of pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden and his son Hunter to help Trump win the 2020 election.
The Senate vote was far shy of the two- thirds majority needed for conviction. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was the only Republican to join Democrats in voting to convict on one of the articles.
Two other presidents have been impeached – Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton – but Trump became the first to be impeached twice. No president has been removed from office.
What comes next?
The House’s vote to impeach Trump is just the first step on the road to removing him from office, which would require a Senate vote to convict. The Senate probably will not convene for a trial until Trump has left office and Biden is inaugurated Jan. 20.
The Senate is on a recess break and is set to reconvene Tuesday. Democrats hope to immediately move forward on a trial, but the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office and indicated a trial would not occur until the Senate is back in session, according to Doug Andres, a spokesman for McConnell.
Democrats said convicting Trump could ensure he is unable to take office again, preventing him from running for a second term as president in 2024 as he indicated he plans to do.