President Donald Trump (R), has officially been impeached today, by 232 Congressmen, 10 of those being Republicans. This is not only historic due to the rarity of impeachment but also in the fact that he has become the first and only president to be impeached twice.
The charges brought on by the house consisted of, 'Incitement of insurrection' in response to thousands of Trump supporters storming Capitol Hill on January 6th. Many representatives believe that the President was only promoting violence against the Capitol and politicians.
Given that President Trump only has a week left in office, why did Democrats still bring on the charges?
Well, this is problematic considering that the trial must be conducted by the Senate, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has refused to say when the Articles of Impeachment will be delivered to the chamber led by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
McConnell took to Twitter to explain the impeachment process and his respective role.
My full statement on the next seven days and the Senate schedule: pic.twitter.com/Nh5z3f79yq
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 13, 2021
McConnell mentions the length of the previous three impeachment trials of 83, 37, and 21 days, which vastly outnumber the days Trump has left in office.
By the time the Senate has the opportunity to vote on this, Trump will be out of Washington, and McConnell will no longer lead the US Senate.
Interestingly enough, Majority Leader McConnell has not ruled out voting for the conviction of President Trump.
Given what Sen. McConnell has said, along with the 10 Republicans in the House who jumped ship to impeach Trump, we could potentially see more Senate Republicans follow McConnell's lead.
Donald Trump's stamp of approval seemed to be what most GOP politicians strived for, so his absence could potentially show us the true convictions of many high-profile Republicans.
Speaking of those "high-profile Republicans," whoever votes to convict President Trump in the Senate will his or her political career. They will join Reps. Liz Cheney, Dan Newhouse of Washington, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Fred Upton of Michigan, Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, John Katko of New York, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Tom Rice of South Carolina, David Valadao of California and Peter Meijer of Michigan, who have put their careers on the line by voting with Democrats to impeach Trump.
It is important to note that if the Senate votes to convict by 2/3, then President Trump will not be allowed to run again for President in the 2024 election, a prospect that many Americans have already begun to salivate over.
This vote which will most likely take place in early February could be consequential for the fate of the Republican party, and not just this country.
Will the Republican Party soon again be the party of Reagan, or will Trump values continue beyond President Trump himself?
