Why remove playing cards now?A guide to the president’s second impeachment

The House has impeached President Trump with only one week left, but he will probably resign before being tried in the Senate. Here’s how the process works:

The House of Representatives impeached today
President Donald Trump spewed eggs on a swarm of supporters who attacked the Capitol when Congress met to formalize Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, the first “turbulence” in American history. Instigated him.

Democrats moved swiftly to impeach Trump after telling Republicans to march at the Capitol at a rally near the National Mall to overturn his defeat. At least five people, including police officers in the Capitol, died during and shortly after the siege.

This process is carried out at an extraordinary speed, testing the limits of the impeachment process and raising previously unthinkable questions. This is what we know.

Impeachment is one of the most serious penalties of the Constitution

Impeachment is one of the most important tools the Constitution has given to Congress to hold senior government officials, including the president, responsible for misconduct and abuse of power.

The House of Representatives will consider whether to impeach the President (equivalent to prosecuting a criminal case), and the Senator will conduct a jury trial in which the Senator will serve as a jury and consider whether to dismiss the President. The constitutional test is whether the president has committed “treason, bribery, or other high crime or contempt.”

The House of Representatives vote requires only a simple majority of lawmakers to agree that the president has actually committed high crime and contempt. A two-thirds majority is required to vote in the Senate.

The accusation against Trump is “incitement of riots”

Drafted by Rhode Island Rep. David Siciline, California’s Ted Lieu, Maryland’s Jamie Raskin, and New York’s Jerrold Nadler, the article was charged with Trump’s “inciting violence against the government.” He states he is guilty. America. “

This article cites Trump’s week-long campaign to not falsely trust the results of the November elections, and his speech on the day of the siege when he told his supporters to go to the Capitol. Quoted directly from. “If you don’t fight like hell, there won’t be a country anymore,” he said.

Proponents say the impeachment is worth it, even though Trump has only a few days left to serve.

The House of Representatives moved at an alarming rate to impeach Trump, but the Senate trial to decide whether to dismiss him cannot begin until January 19, his last full day. This means that the conviction will almost certainly not be completed until he leaves the White House.

The Democrats have only a few days left in his term because Trump’s crime, which uses his power as a national leader and commander-in-chief to incite a rebellion against the legislature, is so serious. If so, he insists that he must deal with it. To let it go without punishment, Democrats insisted that the future president set a dangerous precedent for impunity.

“Is there little time left?” Congressman Steny Hoyer, the leader of the majority, said in a debate. “Yes, but it’s never too late to do the right thing.”

Republicans, many of whom voted to overturn the election results, said that going through the impeachment process very late in Trump’s term encouraged unnecessary divisions, and the country should move forward from last week’s siege. Insisted.

The biggest consequence for Trump may be that he will be disqualified from taking office again.

The impeachment court conviction does not automatically disqualify Trump from future public office. However, if the Senate convicts him, the Constitution allows in subsequent votes to prohibit civil servants from holding “a position of honor, trust, or interest under the United States.”

The vote will require only a simple majority of senators. Such steps are attractive prospects not only for Democrats, but also for many Republicans who have set their goals for the president or are convinced that it is the only one to drive Trump out of the party. It may be. Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky senator, is said to hold the latter view.

However, there is no precedent for disqualifying the president from future positions, and the issue could be brought to the Supreme Court.

Senate trials are unlikely to begin until Biden becomes president

Democrats who control the House of Representatives can choose when to send impeachment articles to the Senate. At that point, the Chamber of Commerce must move immediately to begin the trial. However, the Senate does not plan to hold a regular meeting until January 19, so even if the House of Representatives immediately sends an indictment to the other side of the Capitol, an agreement is needed between Senate Republican and Democratic leaders by then. Will be.

McConnell said Wednesday he disagreed with doing so. In other words, the proceedings could not be filed until the day before Biden swore. It means a proceeding because the Senate needs time to set the rules for impeachment trials. Perhaps it won’t start until Biden becomes president and the Democratic Party manages the Senate.

Trial may consume Senate during Biden’s first day in office

When the Senate receives the impeachment charge, the impeachment article has the highest privileges and must immediately address the issue. Under rules that have been in force for decades, impeachment is the only issue the Senate can consider while a trial is in progress. No other legislative business can be considered at the same time.

However, Biden asked McConnell if it was possible to change the rules, allowing the Senate to conduct an impeachment trial for Trump in parallel with the consideration of his cabinet candidate, splitting the day into two. .. McConnell told Biden that he would consult with the Senator about whether that was possible.

If such a bifurcated process is not possible, House of Representatives Democrats may choose to withhold the article to give Biden time to win confirmation of his team before the trial begins. ..

The Senate was able to bring Mr. Trump’s trial, albeit unprecedented, after Mr. Trump’s resignation. Only two presidents other than Trump were impeached — Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 — and both were eventually acquitted and ended their term.

Author: Catie Edmondson
Photo: Doug Mills and Erin Schaff
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