Trump may not be able to run again
Donald Trump became the first president in the US history to be impeached twice when 10 of his fellow Republican Congressmen joined Democrats in the House of Representatives to charge him with inciting an unprecedented insurrection at the US Capitol last week.
He will now face a trial in the Senate, where if convicted he could face being barred from ever holding office again.
The Senate is adjourned till January 19, which means the trial can take place only after the inauguration of Presidentelect Joe Biden on January 20.
However, the outgoing president will not have to quit the White House before his term ends as the Senate is not in session.
Tump has expressed interest in potentially running for president again in 2024 and a simple majority vote of the Senate could bar him from another White House run.
Trump is still weighing a self-pardon in his final days in the White House, a report revealed on Wednesday evening, confirming concerns from Democrats. Trump's advisers claim they had to persuade him not to march down to the House floor to defend himself against impeachment as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed through the vote.
Instead, they were able to convince him to release a five-minute video address to the nation from the Oval Office condemning the violence at the Capitol last week, reports Daily Mail.
Media sources cited insiders as saying the 'self-pitying' president is isolated from all but a few remaining aides, and keeps lashing out at his inner circle.
Trump has reportedly ordered aides not to pay the legal fees of his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani as he is disappointed with some of Giuliani's legal moves in challenging the election results, reports the Washington Post. Trump is especially peeved over the attorney’s demand for $20,000 a day, in view of the mounting legal challenges that await the ex-president.
Also, Trump's remaining inner circle is said to be extremely despondent and not inclined to defend him for his actions on Januar y 6, when he whipped his rally into a frenzy and told them to march on the Capitol.
On Wednesday, staff were seen removing office furniture from the White House ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration next week. White House advisor Peter Navarro was seen leaving the West Wing with a framed photograph of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In a bipartisan vote, the Democrat-controlled House impeached Trump by 232 to 197 votes, exactly one week af ter pro-Trump rioters forced lawmakers to flee from the ver y chamber in which they cast ballots during the fourth presidential impeachment in US histor y.
All four Indian-American Democratic House members – Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Pramila Jayapal – voted in favour of the impeachment.
The House went ahead with the move af ter Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday refused to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
The House voted af ter several hours of impassioned debate as National Guard troops kept watch inside and outside the Capitol. ‘‘ We know that the President of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion, against our common countr y. He must go," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, participating in the impeachment debate.
"He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love," the top Democrat said.
"I believe the President must be convicted by the Senate, a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the republic will be safe from this man who is so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear and that hold us together," she added.