Republicans Cant Impeach Joe Biden At Least Not Yet
The ongoing chaos in Afghanistan has led many Republicans to, understandably, criticize President Joe Biden. But at the same time, some have decided to go a step further and call for his impeachment.
Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene filed three articles of impeachment last week against Mr Biden, while Sen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, his former friend, has called for his impeachment as well.
But if the idea of impeaching Mr Biden sounds ludicrous and politically unfeasible, thats because it is. While Mr Graham, who went from being one of former president Donald Trumps biggest critics to his biggest apologist in the Senate, and Ms Greene, who has done nothing but promote absurd conspiracy theories and antagonize her fellow members, may want to take advantage of the crisis, there is little to no feasible way for it to begin, at least for now.
First and foremost, the major reason is that Republicans are in the minority in the House and the Senate. While some Democrats may not be happy with how Mr Biden managed Afghanistan, immigration or the eviction moratorium, all of which Ms Greene cited, they arent going to collaborate with Republicans to impeach him.
The remote chance of this passing the House aside, if it makes it to the Senate, Republicans would again have to contend with the fact they are in the minority and two-thirds of all Senators need to vote for a conviction. In the last impeachment earlier this year, only seven Republican Senators broke rank.
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Pelosi On Impeachment Votes: ‘we Are Not Whipping This Legislation’
Rep. Anthony Brindisi, another Democrat from a red district in upstate New York, said hes not feeling pressure from Democratic leadership but is hearing from constituents.
The phone is ringing off the hook both people calling pro-impeachment and people calling against impeachment, he told NBC News. And so, we take all of that into consideration and I’m going to take some time this weekend and go back and look at all these transcripts and make sure all the evidence fits the articles of impeachment.
Two critical swing district Democrats have announced their support for impeachment articles. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., told reporters Thursday that she is going to support both articles of impeachment regardless of the lasting political impacts.
I think it’s equally important today as it will be six months from now to say that I stood up against the President when he did something wrong, Luria said.
And Rep. Conor Lamb , D-Pa., told Pittsburgh affiliate WTAE that hell also vote for the articles.
For Democrats in districts Trump carried in 2016, the decision is fraught with political peril for next November’s elections, especially because the president’s supporters remain mostly united behind him.
A small group of moderate Democrats floated a last-minute proposal of censure instead of impeachment but abandoned the idea when it quickly became clear that such a move would not garner support among the broader Democratic caucus, according to an aide for one of those members.
Republicans Join Democrats In Vote To Push Trump Impeachment Trial Forward
WASHINGTON – Most Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday against holding an impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump on whether he incited insurrection in the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, signaling that he likely has enough votes to secure an acquittal.
The vote was 55-45 in favor of proceeding with a trial, but only five Republicans joined all 50 Democrats. A two-thirds vote is required for conviction, which would require 17 Republicans to turn against Trump, assuming the Democrats vote as a bloc after hearing the case against him when the trial starts in earnest February 9.
A Trump supporter, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, forced the vote on whether to proceed with the trial, calling it an unconstitutional sham.
Paul contended that the Senate cannot hold a trial of a private citizen, which Trump now is after his term ended last Wednesday and Democrat Joe Biden was inaugurated as the countrys 46th president. The Senate, in fact, has held trials for private citizens in the past.
All 100 senators were sworn in as jurors for the upcoming trial.
The Republican lawmakers hold Trumps fate in their hands, even though the former presidents four-year term in the White House ended January 20 with Bidens inauguration.
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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.
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.”
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Republicans Who Voted To Acquit Trump Used Questions Of Constitutionality As A Cover
Following the vote, McConnell gave a scathing speech condemning Trumps lies about election fraud as well as his actions on January 6, only moments after he supported acquittal.
That speech was emblematic of how many Republican senators approached the impeachment vote: Although GOP lawmakers were critical of the attack on January 6, they used a process argument about constitutionality in order to evade confronting Trump on his actual actions.
Effectively, because Trump is no longer in office, Republicans say the Senate doesnt have jurisdiction to convict him of the article of impeachment. As Voxs Ian Millhiser explained, theres some debate over that, but most legal scholars maintain that it is constitutional for the Senate to try a former president.
If President Trump were still in office, I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge, McConnell said. McConnell, however, played an integral role in delaying the start of the trial until after Trump was no longer president.
His statement on Saturday was simply a continuation of how Republicans had previously approached Trumps presidency: Theres been an overwhelming hesitation to hold him accountable while he was in office, and that still appears to be the case for many lawmakers.
Articles Referred To Senate
Article I, charging Clinton with perjury, alleged in part that:
On August 17, 1998, William Jefferson Clinton swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before a federal grand jury of the United States. Contrary to that oath, William Jefferson Clinton willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony to the grand jury concerning one or more of the following:
the nature and details of his relationship with a subordinate government employee; prior perjurious, false and misleading testimony he gave in a federal civil rights action brought against him; prior false and misleading statements he allowed his attorney to make to a federal judge in that civil rights action; and his corrupt efforts to influence the testimony of witnesses and to impede the discovery of evidence in that civil rights action.
Article II, charging Clinton with obstruction of justice alleged in part that:
Clinton was defended by Cheryl Mills. Clinton’s counsel staff included Charles Ruff, David E. Kendall, Dale Bumpers, Bruce Lindsey, Nicole Seligman, Lanny A. Breuer and Gregory B. Craig.
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Michigan Rep Fred Upton
Upton, an 18-term lawmaker who previously held the gavel of the Energy and Commerce Committee, is something of an endangered species on Capitol Hill: a relatively moderate Republican who isnt afraid to cross the aisle to vote with Democrats. Fellow lawmakers and outsiders who lobby Upton say hes a pragmatist. Hes part of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group working to build consensus on legislation.
The former committee chairmans 6th District, nestled in the states touristy southwestern corner that includes Lake Michigan shoreline as well as Kalamazoo, voted 51 percent for Trump in 2020, according to Daily Kos Elections. Upton won reelection with 56 percent of the vote last year. Since 2017, the longtime congressman voted in line with Trumps position on legislation 78 percent of the time, according to CQ Vote Watch.
Bringing Trauma Back To Life
The terrifying invasion of the Capitol was illuminated through never before heard audio of police screaming that a riot had broken out, fresh security video of the armed, violent insurrectionists pouring in and then-Vice President Mike Pence and others fleeing, and parallel maps showing just how close Trump’s minions came to capturing and injuring or killing Pence, Sen. Mitt Romney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The managers finished by hammering home the ex-president’s response once the rioting began: protracted inaction, repetition of the election lies that led to the violence,;and telling the insurrectionists he loved them. ; ; ; ; ; ;
The managers poured a surprising degree of emotion into their arguments. Whether it was Rep. Madeleine Dean choking up as she recalled her terror, or Rep. Eric Swalwell reading what he thought might be his farewell text to his family, it hit home.;Most powerful of all was lead manager Rep. Jamie Raskin’s closing;Tuesday. He brought the trauma back to life for the jurors, who were also present on that horrible day, in recounting;his and his family’s experiences.;His genuine tears flowed for them ;and for all;the tragedies that unfolded Jan. 6.
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Why Is Trump On Trial
Trumps second impeachment stems from his involvement in whipping up a mob on 6 January that went on to assault the Capitol building while a joint session of Congress was convened to certify Joe Bidenâs Electoral College win. The invasion of the Capitol led to five deaths and the temporary suspension of the vote certification until the assailants could be removed. The House voted to impeach him for a second time a week after the events and just a little over a week from him leaving office.
GOP Sen. Mitt Romney says his impeachment vote will be âbased upon the facts and the evidence as is presented.âRomney also says he believes âthat what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense. If not? what is?â
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.
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How The Impeachment Vote Could Benefit Trump Gop
Final votes on the articles are expected in the full House next week after they were passed in a party-line vote by the House Judiciary Committee Friday morning.
Slotkin said shes been lobbied by Republicans on the House floor.
I had a Republican colleague who Ive worked with before on a bunch of issues come up and give me a very detailed, thoughtful explanation of why I should vote against articles of impeachment, Slotkin told NBC News last week.
And the across-the-aisle personal lobbying in the Capitol is being reinforced with an aggressive, multi-million dollar political effort in their home districts.
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For example, the American Action Network, an outside political group that works to elect Republicans to the House, has spent more than $1.5 million on campaign ads focused on impeachment since December 10 in those districts as well as the districts represented by Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Susie Lee of Nevada and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico. Those ads are slated to run through the votes in the full House of Representatives next week.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said impeachment is a vote of conscience and maintains that Democrats aren’t pressuring their members on which way to vote.
“We are not whipping this legislation,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday. “People have to come to their own conclusions.”
Donald Trump: Impeached In 2019 And 2021
On October 9, 2019 in Washington, D.C., President Trump answers questions on a pending impeachment inquiry.
On September 24, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump regarding his alleged efforts to pressure the President of Ukraine to investigate possible wrongdoings by his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
The decision to authorize the impeachment inquiry came after a leaked whistleblower complaint detailed a July phone conversation between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump allegedly tied Ukrainian military aid to personal political favors. The White House later released a reconstructed of the phone call, which many Democrats argued demonstrated that Trump had violated the Constitution.
On December 18, 2019, President Trump became the third U.S. president in history to be impeached as the House of Representatives voted nearly along party lines to impeach him over abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. No Republicans voted in favor of either article of impeachment, while three Democrats voted against one or both.On February 5, 2020, the Senate largely along party lines to acquit Trump on both charges.
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What To Watch For
While Trumps impeachment in the House is a foregone conclusion, conviction in the Senate is a far murkier question. A handful of senators have advocated Trumps resignation or removal without explicitly voicing support for impeachment, but Democrats may struggle to muster the 17 GOP votes needed to get the necessary two-thirds majority. Additionally, McConnell has signaled a Senate impeachment trial likely wouldnt occur until after Trump has left office.
How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict Donald Trump
Now that Donald Trump has been impeached for an historic second time, attention turns to the Senate where, according to the Constitution, a trial will begin. The big question isunlike last year when only one Republican Senator voted to convict Trump on charges resulting from his phone call with the President of Ukrainewill there be 17 Republican senators willing to vote to convict Trump?
Lets start with what we know. Senator Ben Sasse is the only senator who has said clearly that he is open to convicting Trump. Senator Mitt Romney voted to convict last year when Trump was impeached over his phone call with the Ukrainian president. The charges in this impeachment are equally if not more serious, so it seems likely that he too may vote to convict. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Patrick Toomey have also made statements signaling that theyve had enough of Trump. Murkowski just wants him out, saying He has caused enough damage, and Toomey thinks he committed impeachable offenses but is unsure whether impeachment makes sense this close to the end of the Trump presidency.
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Trump Impeachment Odds: How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict
The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins today, February 9, 2021. Accused of incitement of insurrection, the 100 senators will hear arguments from Democratic House Managers and a Republican Congessional defense, with a brand new team of lawyers to defend Trump. How many senators will vote to convict?
The trial itself is interesting in a way, because nearly everyone involved would have been in the Capitol when insurrectionists stormed the building on January 6; the crime that led to this impeachment. So the senators being asked to pass judgement are victims of the crime. But the popular debate has not so much been around whether Trump is guilty, but rather whether America should heal and move on.
To convince Republicans, Democrats are expected to show plenty of video evidence, reminding the senate of what it felt like on that tumultuous day. Trumps defense is expected to argue that, with Trump already out of office, the impeachment is unconstitutional. However, its been rumored that Trump fired his first legal team for refusing to push the 2020 election hoax angle he preferred.
In Trumps first impeachment trial, Utah Senator Mitt Romney was the sole Republican to vote to convict, and hes likely to do the same again, making the 50 or fewer betting option such a long shot. But who will join him?
How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict Donald Trump On Incitement By Apr. 29?
50 Or Fewer+1600
