The Law Enforcement Response
The Secret Service takes command today of all security preparations for the inauguration.
The agency will be backed by as many as 15,000 National Guard troops, thousands of police and tactical officers, and layers of eight-foot steel fencing. The high-alert security posture is starting six days earlier than planned, Carol Leonnig, Karoun Demirjian, Justin Jouvenal and Nick Miroff report. “Everyone can just rest assured they are throwing the kitchen sink at this event, said one Secret Service official involved in protective planning The accelerated timetable has also allowed authorities to fortify the city and deploy officers in anticipation of potential violence on Sunday, when pro-Trump groups are calling for armed marches in Washington and the 50 state capitals. Veteran Secret Service and Homeland Security officials described a level of concern unlike anything in their careers.
The FBI warned of a war at the Capitol in advance of the mayhem.
“The warning is the starkest evidence yet of the sizable intelligence failure The head of the FBIs Washington Field Office, Steven DAntuono, told reporters on Friday that the agency did not have intelligence suggesting the pro-Trump rally would be anything more than a lawful demonstration. Steven Sund, who resigned as Capitol Police chief, said in an interview Tuesday that he never received nor was made aware of the FBIs field bulletin.
The Daily 202: A Vote Of Conscience Five House Republicans Explain Why They Will Vote To Impeach Trump Today
with Mariana Alfaro
No matter how you look at her decision, Rep. Liz Cheney supporting the impeachment of President Trump took immense political courage. A new CBS-YouGov poll shows 55 percent of Americans favor impeachment, but just 15 percent of Republicans do. In November, the president carried her state with 70 percent of the vote. The leader of the Freedom Caucus and other Trump loyalists quickly called for Cheneys ouster as the No. 3 in House GOP leadership. The No. 1 and No. 2 on the leadership team oppose impeachment. The single article that has been introduced, for incitement of insurrection, already had the support of 218 House Democrats, enough to ensure its passage without her walking the plank. Even if no action is taken, Trump will be out of the White House in seven days.
Taken together, these factors make the statement Cheney issued Tuesday all the more remarkable. The 54-year-old has offered perhaps the most forceful and eloquent case of any lawmaker in either party for removing Trump from office over his behavior last week.
During a Monday evening conference call with Republicans, Cheney hinted at where she was heading. This is going to be a vote of conscience, the congresswoman told the members, according to two people who were on the private call.
Rep. Fred Upton complained that Trump showed no contrition when he spoke on Tuesday and described his speech from last weeks rally on the Ellipse as totally appropriate.
Democrats 10 Republicans Vote For 2nd Impeachment Of Trump
Democrats in the House of Representatives, joined by 10 Republicans, voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, in a 232197 vote on Jan. 13. The single article of impeachment alleges that the president incited an insurrection that resulted in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
The impeachment, accomplished in a single seven-hour session, was the fastest in U.S. history. It is also the first time in the nations history that a president has been impeached twice.
Republicans criticized the rush, arguing that it offered no due process to the president and no confidence in the proceedings to the American people. Democrats justified the truncated process by alleging that Trump poses a danger to the nation every day he is in office.
We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion, against our common country, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi alleged. He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.
Every Democrat voted in favor of impeachment.
Republicans who voted to impeach the president were Reps. Liz Cheney , John Katko , Adam Kinzinger , Fred Upton , Jaime Herrera Beutler , Dan Newhouse , Anthony Gonzalez , Tom Rice , David Valadao , and Peter Meijer
Some Republicans argued that moving forward with impeachment would further divide the nation.
He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding, McCarthy said.
How Many Republicans Will Vote To Convict
In Trump’s first impeachment trial, one year ago, just one Republican voted to convict, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the party’s 2012 presidential nominee. If Democrats unanimously vote to convict him again, at least 17 Republicans would have to join them to succeed.
That’s a high bar.
The likeliest targets, apart from Romney, are Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said he will keep an open mind, a departure from a year ago, when he declared the effort dead before the proceedings began.
Some GOP leaders are, again, telegraphing failure.
“At this point, there’s not going to be a conviction. You can read the writing on the wall,” John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Senate’s third-ranking Republican, said recently on CNN.
The 10 Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Donald Trump
Ten House Republicans joined every Democrat in voting yes, in the most bipartisan impeachment in US history
Ten Republican members of the US House of Representatives voted to impeach Donald Trump over the deadly insurrection at the Capitol, making it the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in US history.
The break with the president stood in sharp contrast to the unanimous support for Trump among House Republicans when he was first impeached by Democrats in 2019.
All Democrats who voted supported impeachment, while 197 Republicans voted no.
The Republican votes made it a historic moment. In comparison, five Democrats voted to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998.
How the Senate will fall on Trumps second impeachment trial vote remains to be seen. Two-thirds of the 100-member body are required to convict a president, meaning 17 Republicans would have to join Democrats to render a guilty verdict. So far only a small number of Republican senators have indicated an openness to convicting the president in a senate trial, which is now set to begin after Bidens inauguration. Mitch McConnell, the top-ranking Republican in the Senate, indicated to colleagues that he is undecided on how he would vote.
Below are the Republicans who voted for impeachment in the House of Representatives:
Process For Impeachment And Conviction
The following two charts show the process for impeachment, which begins in the U.S. House with the introduction of an impeachment resolution and a committee inquiry conducted by the United States House Committee on the Judiciary. If the committee adopts articles of impeachment against the official, the articles will go to a full floor vote in the U.S. House.
When articles of impeachment are adopted by the U.S. House, the process moves to the U.S. Senate where senators will either acquit or convict the official following a trial.
Other News That Should Be On Your Radar
Biden nominates Samantha Power to run USAID.
Biden announced this morning that he will put the former U.N. ambassador in charge of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Biden is also expected to enhance Power’s role by elevating the position to membership on the National Security Council, NBCs Andrea Mitchell reports. Under , the agency’s budget has been slashed and career development experts have been replaced by political appointees with little experience in the field. In the administration’s proposed budget last year, foreign aid and USAID funds were cut by 22 percent.
- The Senate Armed Services Committee appears poised to approve a waiver allowing retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as the next defense secretary, despite serious concerns lawmakers risk dismantling the tradition of civilian leadership of the Pentagon.
- Biden will likely tap Gary Gensler to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission. A final decision, however, has not been made. Gensler, pushed by liberals for the post, is viewed as a Wall Street critic and would probably be opposed by the banking industry if selected,” Jeff Stein reports.
- Biden will appoint acting agency heads across the federal government once he takes office because of delays in Senate consideration of his nominees.
The Trump administration executes the first female death row inmate in seven decades.
Next Steps In The Impeachment Process
Now that the House has voted for impeachment, it is up to the Senate to hold a trial. A two-thirds vote in the Senate would be required to convict Mr. Trump on the impeachment charges.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that the Senate cannot conclude an impeachment trial before Mr. Trump’s term in office ends on January 20. But the trial could continue into Mr. Biden’s term, and senators could vote to convict Mr. Trump even after he leaves office. If he is convicted, a majority of the Senate could also vote to bar him from holding federal office in the future.
The article of impeachment, introduced Monday by House Democrats, accuses Mr. Trump of “willfully inciting violence against the government of the United States” in violation of his constitutional oath and duty.
“President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United State and its institutions of government,” the article states. “He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coordinate branch of government. He thereby betrayed his trust as president to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”
The vote is the culmination of swift efforts by the Democrat-led House to punish Mr. Trump for his role in inciting the violence at the Capitol, which led to the deaths of four protesters and one U.S. Capitol Police officer who was fatally injured the melee.
Gop Largely Sides Against Holding Trump Impeachment Trial
WASHINGTON All but five Senate Republicans voted in favor of an effort to dismiss Donald Trumps historic second impeachment trial on Tuesday, making clear a conviction of the former president for incitement of insurrection after the deadly Capitol siege on Jan. 6 is unlikely.
While the Republicans did not succeed in ending the trial before it began, the test vote made clear that Trump still has enormous sway over his party as he becomes the first former president to be tried for impeachment. Many Republicans have criticized Trumps role in the attack before which he told his supporters to fight like hell to overturn his defeat but most of them have rushed to defend him in the trial.
I think this was indicative of where a lot of peoples heads are, said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, after the vote.
Late Tuesday, the presiding officer at the trial, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was taken to the hospital for observation after not feeling well at his office, spokesman David Carle said in a statement. The 80-year-old senator was examined by the Capitols attending physician, who recommended he be taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution, he said. Later Tuesday, Carle said Leahy had been sent home after a thorough examination and was looking forward to getting back to work.
But many others indicated that they believe the final vote will be similar.
Here Are The 7 Republicans Who Voted To Convict Trump
Seven Republican senators voted to convict former President Trump on the charge of incitement to insurrection, joining Democrats to make it it a far more bipartisan vote than Mr. Trump’s first impeachment trial. But the final vote of 57-43 fell short of the 67 votes that would have been needed for conviction.
The Republicans voting to convict were Senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Romney’s vote was all but a given, and the votes from Collins and Murkowski weren’t unexpected. Perhaps the most surprising vote came from Burr.
But something distinguishes most of the Republicans who voted to convict Mr. Trump most of them aren’t up for reelection soon. Murkowski is the only one of the group facing reelection in 2022. Burr and Toomey aren’t running for another term.
Collins and Murkowski asked some of the most probing questions on Friday when senators had the chance to pose questions to the defense and to the House impeachment managers.
Collins, Murkowski, Romney and Sasse also joined Democrats in voting to call witnesses Saturday, as did Repubilcan Senator Lindsey Graham. But Democrats ultimately backed off on calling witnesses.
Several of the senators released statements explaining their decisions following the vote Saturday.
“His betrayal of the Constitution and his oath of office required conviction.”
Rep Liz Cheney Wyoming
The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack, Cheney wrote. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not.
Cheney is the highest-ranking House member to vote for Trumps impeachment.
Rep Tom Rice South Carolina
Rep. Tom Rice, representing South Carolinas 7th Congressional District, voted to impeach Trump, though he had not spoken out publicly about his decision prior to the vote.
In a statement after the vote Wednesday, Rice said he was not sure whether Trumps speech before the mobs attack amounted to incitement of a riot, but any reasonable person could see the potential for violence.
Once the violence began, when the Capitol was under siege, when the Capitol Police were being beaten and killed, and when the Vice President and the Congress were being locked down, the President was watching and tweeted about the Vice Presidents lack of courage, Rice wrote.
I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.
Us House Votes To Impeach President Donald Trump See How Louisiana Congressmen Voted
WASHINGTON Louisiana congressmen took on key roles during the historic impeachment of President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, one of the first members to speak during the six-hour debate before Trump became the third president in history to be impeached, laid out the GOPs argument against impeachment.
Our Democrat colleagues have weaponized the impeachment provision of the constitution to nullify the votes of 63 million Americans who elected President Donald J. Trump, said Johnson, R-Shreveport. They are trying to meet their own arbitrary, completely reckless timeline to take down a president that they loathe.
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre, gave a fire-and-brimstone-inspired speech that drew intense interest online.
I have descended into the belly of the beast, he said. I have witnessed the terror within. And I rise committed to oppose the insidious forces which threaten our republic.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Alto, called for the ouster of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, eliciting boos from the Democratic side of the chamber.
What is shameful is that Speaker Pelosi has allowed this political witch hunt to move forward, Abraham said. Democratic extreme partisanship will set a dangerous precedent for this nation, and mark my words, this sinister attempt to remove this lawful president will not go unnoticed.
Louisiana’s House delegation split 5-1, along the party line.
House Impeachment Managers Request Trump To Testify Under Oath Next Week
Democrats requested that Trump testify in person, an offer his attorneys declined. Inside his orbit, there has been disagreement about whether to repeat his groundless claims that the election was stolen or whether to push the procedural argument that appeals to GOP senators.
His attorneys, David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr., have indicated that they will do the latter, saying in their brief that the impeachment is “unconstitutional, and must be dismissed with prejudice.”
Impasse And Final Vote
Prior to the House impeachment vote, McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham expressed their intentions not to be impartial jurors, contrary to the oath they must take. McConnell said, “I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There is not anything judicial about it. Impeachment is a political decision.” Graham said, “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here … I will do everything I can to make die quickly.”
On January 14, 2020, Pelosi announced the House managers who would prosecute the case in the Senate. On January 15, the House voted on Resolution 798, which appointed the impeachment managers and approved the articles of impeachment to be sent to the Senate. Later that afternoon, Pelosi held a rare public engrossment ceremony, followed by a stately procession of the managers and other House officers across the Capitol building, where the third impeachment of a U.S. president was announced to the senate. With the exception of the managers, who would conduct the trial, the House’s involvement in the impeachment process came to an end.
Voting results on House Resolution 798| Party |
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Republican Support For Trump On Decline Ahead Of Impeachment Vote
Republicans offered only modest reproach when President Donald Trump said there were very fine people on both sides of a white supremacist rally. They stayed in line when Trump was caught pressuring a foreign leader and later defended his handling of a deadly pandemic.
But with a sudden force, the wall of Republican support that has enabled Trump to weather a seemingly endless series of crises is beginning to erode.
Trumps weakened standing among his own party will come into sharper focus on Wednesday when the House is expected to impeach the president for inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol last week. A handful of Republicans have already said theyll join the effort, a number that could grow as the vote nears.
Read more: Donald Trump faces 2nd impeachment vote as McConnell rejects calls for immediate trial
The choice facing Republicans isnt just about the immediate fate of Trump, who has just seven days left in his presidency. Its about whether the partys elected leaders are ready to move on from Trump, who remains popular with many GOP voters but is now toxic in much of Washington.
How they proceed could determine whether the party remains viable in upcoming elections or splinters in a way that could limit their relevance.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy blamed Trump for the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week after arguing against the presidents impeachment on Wednesday.
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Numerous Gop Primary Challengers Could Split Anti
As they prepare to face primary challengers, the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump after his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 raised significantly more money during the first quarter of 2021 than they did two years earlier.
The group, leveraging the power of incumbency, also swamped their GOP primary opponents in almost every instance during the first round of fundraising since angering Mr. Trump with their votes, new Federal Election Commission filings show.
While all the incumbents outraised challengers who filed campaign finance reports, it is still early in the two-year election cycle and money is just one factor in typically low-turnout primaries.
Mr. Trumps political-action committees could also weigh in financially on some of the contests, and his endorsements could carry significant weight with the partys base. The PACs arent required to report their latest totals until July, but one of them, Save America PAC, started the year with $31 million in the bank and has continued to raise money since then.
In a speech earlier this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he called out all 10 by name, Mr. Trump told his supporters to get rid of them all in next years elections.
Illinois Rep Adam Kinzinger
Kinzinger, first elected to Congress in 2010 when voters swept House Republicans into power, has relied on his military background in crafting his legislative priorities, especially on foreign policy. The veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan serves on the House Foreign Affairs panel, as well as Energy and Commerce. Kinzinger initially defended Trumps foreign policy and national security posture, but by 2018 he had become a critic of the commander in chief.
He voted in line with the president on legislation 90 percent of the time during the Trump years, according to CQ Vote Watch. Kinzinger voted with Trump 85 percent of the time in 2019. Trump carried Kinzingers 16th District, which stretches from Illinois Wisconsin border north of Rockford to its line with Indiana, in 2020. Trump got 57 percent of the vote in the district, according to Daily Kos Elections, while Kinzinger got 65 percent.
He immediately condemned Trump in a video statement on Jan. 6. The storming of the Capitol was a coup attempt, with the purpose of overturning the election of a duly elected president, he said. The current president incited this coup, encouraged it, and did little to protect the Capitol and the Constitution.
What If Anything Will We Hear From Trump
Trump is now without the tool he used during the previous impeachment trial to try to influence the proceedings: his Twitter account.
On the second day of his 2020 trial, Trump pumped 140 tweets, including retweets, into his timeline. Now his account is suspended, along with his Facebook and Instagram accounts. As a result, his attorneys will probably have to carry the burden.
South Carolina Rep Tom Rice
Rices vote for impeachment stunned those familiar with the South Carolina lawmakers record as a staunch Trump defender, especially during his first impeachment.
I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice, Rice said in a statement Wednesday evening. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.
Rice voted for motions to object to certifying Bidens Electoral College victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania last week, votes that came after security teams cleared the building of rioters and members returned from a secure location. Rice told local media he waited until the last minute to cast those votes because he was extremely disappointed in the president after the riots and that Trump needed to concede the election. He also said last week that he did not support impeaching the president or invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
Rice, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, has supported the Trump administrations position 94 percent of the time over the past four years. He represents a solidly Republican district in the Myrtle Beach area that Trump carried by 19 points in November. Rice, who has had little difficulty holding his seat since his first 2012 victory, won his race by 24 points in November.
Rep Jaime Herrera Beutler
While Beutler admitted that she did not vote for Trump in 2016, she did back the president for a second term in 2020.
On Tuesday, the congresswoman announced she would vote to impeach, saying: The Presidents offenses, in my reading of the Constitution, were impeachable based on the indisputable evidence we already have.
I understand the argument that the best course is not to further inflame the country or alienate Republican voters, she added. But I am a Republican voter I see that my own party will be best served when those among us choose truth.
