What could a second impeachment mean for Trump? Here’s why it matters
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to impeach President Donald Trump, and though it’s unlikely to result in his removal from office, it could have other consequences.
The vote passed 232 to 197. All House Democrats and 10 Republicans voted in favor of impeachment. When Trump was impeached in December 2019, no Republicans voted in favor.
House Democrats introduced the article of impeachment for “incitement of insurrection” Monday following last week’s violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob in support of the president, who has continuously touted false and unfounded claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Rioters breached the Capitol on Wednesday as Congress was convened to certify the Electoral College results. They scaled walls, smashed windows and laid siege on the building — delaying Congress’s certification for hours.
Five people have died as a result of the siege. A Capitol Police officer died Thursday from injuries sustained in the attack. One woman was fatally shot in the Capitol, and three others died of medical emergencies in the area.
Prior to the attack, Trump spoke to his supporters at a rally on Wednesday — falsely claiming the election was stolen from him and telling them to march to the Capitol.
Now, lawmakers pinning the attack on the president’s rhetoric are calling for him to be held accountable or removed from office.
House Democrats have urged Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, which would relieve Trump of his presidential duties. But Pence has rejected the idea, removing it as an avenue for Trump’s removal from office.
Trump’s impeachment Wednesday makes him the only U.S. president in history to be impeached more than once. He’s only the third president to be impeached.
Could Trump be removed?
Now that the House has voted to impeach, it can send the article to the Senate, which is then required to take it up for consideration promptly. The Senate must reach a two-thirds majority to convict and remove the president, which could be difficult as a number of Republicans would have to get on board.
The timing also makes things tricky as the Senate won’t be in session until Jan. 19, the day before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. All 100 senators would have to agree to a schedule change to convene earlier than that, which is unlikely, The New York Times reports.
The House could hold on to the articles of impeachment until Democrats have a majority in the Senate, which will happen when incoming U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who won their runoff races last week in Georgia, are sworn in and once Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will serve as a tiebreaker, takes office.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, told CNN on Sunday the House may wait until after Biden’s first 100 days in office to send the articles to the Senate.
“Let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running, and maybe we’ll send the articles some time after that,” he told CNN.
If Trump were convicted in that scenario, it wouldn’t result in his removal as he would already be out of office. But it could result in other consequences.
Barring him from office
The Senate has the power to disqualify a convicted president from holding office again, which would require a separate vote and a simple majority.
“Procedurally, they have the articles of impeachment, the Senate would convict and then after they convict, someone would make a motion to also disqualify and then they would take up that,” Brian Kalt, author of “Unable, The Law, Politics, and Limits of Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment,” told NPR.
Trump has floated a 2024 bid for president, but disqualification would put that possibility to rest, further opening the field to other potential Republican presidential hopefuls, the Times reports.
Kalt told NPR that Trump could still try to run if disqualified from office but would likely be unsuccessful.
“There are people who have argued that,” Kalt said, according to NPR. “I think, though, as a practical matter, if they’re going to get two-thirds in the Senate against him, it would be a sign that just as a practical matter, he’s lost enough Republican support, that he’d be facing an uphill battle getting the nomination anyway.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 1:24 PM with the headline "What could a second impeachment mean for Trump? Here’s why it matters."
