Former President Trump Impeached by The House, Acquitted by the Senate

By: Emdad Swapan and Dylan Murphy

After the insurrection at the US Capitol, the House of Representatives were quick to charge President Trump with one article of impeachment, Incitement of Insurrection. Exactly one week after, on Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted in the most bipartisan impeachment in American history. Ten Republicans, including Wyoming congresswoman and daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, voted to impeach the President.

This makes Trump the only president in history to be impeached twice by the House. He was acquitted by the Senate the first time in 2020, under a Mitch McConnell-led senate. McConnell does not plan to reconvene the Senate, meaning the Senate trial will happen after Joe Biden’s inauguration (January 20th). At that time, the Senate will be led by Chuck Schumer, who becomes the majority leader as a result of the Georgia Senate Runoffs. Up until 2020, the US had only two presidents be impeached; Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. In less than 13 months, President Trump was impeached twice. President-Elect Biden is hoping to get started quickly on his agenda and have his cabinet members be confirmed without any conflict.

The article of impeachment accused Trump of “repeatedly issuing false statements asserting that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted,” and wilfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol,” in reference to last week’s riots. The National Guard was posted outside the Capitol building during the debates, prepared for another bout of riots and violence.

Some Republicans were still disinclined to go along with the impeachment, but not on Trump’s behalf. Instead, they were more concerned with preserving national unity. Still, the increase in Republicans’ support for impeachment, compared to a year ago, demonstrates a diminishment of Trump’s influence, as his tenure as President nears its end.

On February 13, The Senate voted guilty 57-43. With more than 34 not guilty votes, President Trump was acquitted by the Senate against the one article of impeachment, Incitement of Insurrection. Seven Republicans broke party ranks and voted guilty, ( Romney, Sasse, Murkowski, Colins, Burr, Toomey, & Cassidy.) Utah Senator Mitt Romney voted guilty in Trump’s first impeachment as well.