With less than 10 days left in office, House and Senate Democrats are pushing for another impeachment of President Trump. Some are wondering what the point of such a late effort is.
Summary
Despite his presidency ending in eight days, Democrats in the House are readying a vote on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
- Citing his “incitement of insurrection” in reference to the protests-turned-riots at the Capitol last week, the impeachment will follow an expected Tuesday vote on a non-binding resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment and transfer the powers of the presidency from Trump.
- The arguments for and against impeachment are taking unsurprising political sides, and Democrats are skeptical, even contemptuous, of Republican admonishments saying a second impeachment will only harm the prospects of national unity.
- Another concern is what the impeachment process will do to the first few days of the Biden Administration and whether it will derail efforts to swiftly approve some of Biden’s cabinet nominees.
- Politico reported Democrat House members were bunkered down during the riot and began discussing impeachment while sheltering in place.
- Roll Call reports a handful of Republicans are publicly open to the idea of supporting the impeachment efforts, including Senators Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey, while House Republican Adam Kinzinger has expressed he is receptive to the notion.
- The New York Times Editorial Board predictably supported the impeachment efforts, but took things a step further by making direct connections between the legal efforts by the Trump campaign to mount legal challenges to election results to the chaos at the Capitol last week.
- Huffington Post acknowledged that with so little time in office left, Trump is unlikely to be removed from the White House, but revels in the fact that “Trump would become the first official, let alone president, to be impeached twice.”
- In their trademark “explainer” style report on the impeachment, Vox reported on a handful of Republican House members urging President-elect Biden to “intercede with House Democrats to stop the impeachment process.”
- The Wall Street Journal’s reporting emphasized bipartisan support for nixing impeachment, quoting West Virginia Democrat Senator Joe Manchin while the Journal’s Editorial Board urged Biden to stop the process and begin what Biden has called the “time to heal.”
- Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz criticized the impeachment efforts on Fox News, saying “they just want to have the accusation hanging over” Trump.
- Breitbart noted one Republican, freshman Congressman Peter Meijer from Michigan, is considering supporting the Democrats’ impeachment efforts.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
