House Democrats formally introduced their resolution today, Monday, to impeach President Donald Trump, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” for his role in last week’s deadly US Capitol attack.
The House plans to vote Wednesday to impeach Trump and will vote tomorrow evening on a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power.
Calls for Trump’s resignation or impeachment continue to intensify, with a growing number of Republicans saying they want Trump out of office before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20.
As House Democrats debate when to send the articles of impeachment over to the Capitol, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is exploring whether to use emergency authority to reconvene the Senate and hold the trial before President Trump leaves office, according to a senior Democratic aide.
This would require support from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to carry this out under the authority granted to the leaders in 2004. It would not require the support of all 100 senators.
At the same time, Democrats in the House are debating when to send the articles, with support growing to send them over right away, as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer indicated today.
House Republican Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, in a letter to GOP colleagues, listed four potential responses to the Jan. 6 attack in advance of a Monday all-GOP conference call as he continued to oppose the impeachment of President Trump.
“Notwithstanding the Speaker’s push towards impeachment, I have heard from members across our conference who have raised at least four potential avenues available to the House to ensure that the events of January 6 are rightfully denounced and prevented from occurring in the future,” McCarthy wrote.
McCarthy, citing feedback from members, floated the possibility of “a resolution of censure under the rules of the House,” as swell as a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack, according to the letter. He did not specify who would be censured.
He also lists overhauling the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which guides the electoral certification process, as well as “legislation to promote voter confidence” in future legislation.
What these latter two issues have to do with the attack, other than the lies that stemmed from GOP lawmakers during the certification process and as it relates to non-existent wide-spread voter fraud, is unclear. The GOP call is ongoing.
