Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives officially submitted draft impeachment drafts against President Trump on the 11th, accusing him of “sedition”.
This is the second time Trump has fallen into an impeachment crisis, only 10 days before he leaves office.
U.S. analysts believe that Democrats seek impeachment at this time, on the one hand, to “stand the benchmark” and prevent the recurrence of incitement to violence; on the other hand, to leave a disgraceful record for Trump, making it difficult for him to run for president again four years later.
The second impeachment highlights the political antagonism between the two parties, and no matter what the result is, it will only exacerbate the division of American society.
Seek impeachment and vigorously promote dismissal
The draft impeachment clause said that Trump’s “sedition” and “interference in the peaceful transition of power” “seriously endangers” the security of the United States and the United States government agencies, causing “clear harm” to the American people, and that if left to govern, it would “pose a threat to national security, democracy and the constitution”.
The U.S. Congress was hit by violence on the 6th, killing five people and injuring dozens, shocking the world. American public opinion has accused Trump of “igniting the fuse” and calling for Trump to step down.
In addition to pushing for impeachment proceedings, House Democrats also urged Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to remove Trump.
The recall motion, which was proposed by Democrats, is expected to be voted on the House on the 12th, and the motion is likely to pass because Democrats have a majority in the House, when Pence will respond in 24 hours.
House Speaker Pelosi said recently that if Pence and a majority of Trump’s cabinet do not consider removing Trump, the House of Representatives will vote on the draft impeachment draft articles.
CNN freelance writer Chris Silizza believes that Pence is unlikely to use the 25th amendment to the Constitution to remove Trump for three reasons: first, no vice president has ever removed the president in this way before, which will be detrimental to Pence’s political future; second, Trump’s term is approaching.
In conclusion, the Republican Party is unwilling to be extraveted; thirdly, several members of the Trump cabinet have resigned, and it is unlikely that most of the rest of the people will support the recall decision.
It will get worse in the crisis again.
Never in the history of the United States has a president been impeached by the House of Representatives twice.
Christopher Gardieri, a political science expert at St. Anselm College in the United States, told Xinhua News Agency that in the long run, the House of Representatives seeks to impeach Trump again before he steps down, aiming to warn future presidents and prevent the recurrence of his incitement to violence.
U.S. media pointed out that impeachment is also a manifestation of party fighting, and Democrats want to leave a disgraceful record for Trump, making it difficult for him to run for president again four years later.
The congressional riots have greatly reduced Trump’s image and political legacy, and impeachment is undoubtedly to add insult to injury.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to impeach the President for “treason, bribery or other serious crimes and misconduct”. If the impeachment clause against the president is passed by a simple majority in the House of Representatives, it means that the president is impeached.
Next, the Senate will hear the impeachment case. If two-thirds of the senators support the impeachment clause, the president will be convicted and stepped down.
In December 2019, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for the first time, becoming the third president in American history to be impeached. At the time, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to pass two articles of impeachment against Trump, accusing him of abuse of power and obstructing Congress.
But both articles have since been rejected by the Republican-controlled Senate.
According to U.S. media reports, this time, the House of Representatives may vote on the impeachment clause as soon as the 13th. At present, the Democratic majority of the House of Representatives has enough votes to pass the impeachment clause, and some Republicans may also vote in favor.
Impeachment is difficult to heal.
According to media disclosure, an internal memorandum by Senate Majority Leader McConnell, a Republican, shows that if the House of Representatives passes the impeachment clause, the Senate will start the impeachment hearing as early as the afternoon of the 20th.
At noon on the 20th, Trump will officially leave office and Biden will be sworn in, which means that the Senate cannot complete the impeachment trial before Trump leaves office.
At present, the top Democratic Party of the House has not reached an agreement on when to send the impeachment clause to the Senate.
James Clyburn, the Democratic whip of the House, told the media recently that the impeachment clause may be sent to the Senate after President-elect Biden takes office for 100 days later, so as to avoid impeachment hearings affecting the Senate’s approval of the nomination process for Biden’s cabinet.
Analysts believe that regardless of the timing, it is not easy for the impeachment clause to pass in the Senate. After two newly elected senators in Georgia take office, the Democratic and Republican parties will each hold 50 seats in the Senate.
Although several Republican senators have publicly called on Trump to resign, it is not clear how many Republicans will support the impeachment clause. Senior Republican Senator Lindsay Graham said recently that he did not think the impeachment bill could pass the Senate.
Graham also said that seeking to impeach Trump under the current circumstances will further exacerbate the division of American society.
According to a U.S. media report on the 11th, the FBI warned that there may be national armed protests in the United States in the period before the new president takes office.
Some analysts worry that impeaching Trump at this time may further anger his supporters and trigger more serious social unrest.
