A voting session of the US House of Representatives (Photo: C-Span)

President Trump’s final days in the White House have been extremely tense.

Pressure on

With Wednesday’s vote, Trump became the first president in US history to be impeached twice. After his first impeachment, in 2019, on charges that he sought to extort help from Ukraine to boost his re-election chances, Trump was acquitted by the Senate on an essentially straight party-line vote. This time Trump is facing some opposition from his own party. 10 Republican House members voted to impeach him, and a handful of Republican Senators have signaled that they would be open to support conviction.

On Tuesday, the House passed a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to start the 25th Amendment process of removing President Trump from office. The 25th Amendment allows the removal of the President if the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet declare that the President is incapable of performing his duties. Pence replied with a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the same day, vowing not to exercise the 25th Amendment despite pressure from Democrats.

Democrats have accused Trump of inciting sedition by urging his supporters to march on the Capitol and fight to overturn the election just as Congress was about to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. Hundreds of fanatical protesters smashed their way into the Capitol, disrupted Congress’s vote counting, and unleashed a degree of chaos not seen at that historic site in more than 200 years. Five people lost their lives during an hours-long battle between the attackers and the Capitol police.

House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy said that during a 30-minute phone call on Monday, President Trump admitted some responsibility for the riot, but Trump has not publicly admitted any responsibility.

Exit

The impeachment, according to many analysts, is a severe political blow to the President, but Trump will likely continue in office until his term ends next Wednesday in accordance with the US Constitution. Many say there will be no time to conduct an impeachment trial in the Senate until after Biden is inaugurated. There is no plan yet to convene a vote in the Senate, which alone has the power to remove the President.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said that “there is no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before President-elect Biden is sworn in" and that “it would best serve the interests of the nation if Congress focused on a safe and orderly transition of power." 

Under the US Constitution, a two-thirds majority is needed to convict and remove a President, meaning at least 17 Republicans in the 100-member chamber would have to vote with the Democrats. But analysts say that even if President Trump once again survives impeachment, his political career will be damaged and his chance of mounting a successful presidential campaign in 2024 will be reduced.