On January 13th, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection against the government. He is the only president to be impeached more than once, and only two other presidents have been impeached in American history – Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. Only Richard Nixon has escaped conviction, resigning before a decision could be made.

While the House has brought charges for his removal from office, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell denied the request to bring the Senate in session before January 19th. After what has seemed like a long battle about President Trump’s supposed “election fraud,” Trump finally agreed that he would transfer power peacefully to President-Elect Joe Biden, two months after the election was called for Biden. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been adamant about the need to remove Trump from office and to hold him liable for his actions even after President Biden has assumed office., especially after he encouraged insurrectionists to vandalize and trespass Pelosi’s office on January 6th. Unyielding, she said “He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.” While House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy did not vote to impeach the President, he still held him accountable for his actions. McCarthy stated, “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters, he should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.”

An unprecedented ten House Republicans joined the Democrats to impeach now-former President Trump, contrasting to when the whole party unanimously voted against his impeachment in 2019. These representatives who now support impeachment include Liz Cheney, the third-ranking GOP House member, and others. Cheney explained her decision, saying, “None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.” Even avid supporters of the President broke their support to him and voted yes, like South Carolina representative Tom Rice, who stated, “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.”

These GOP members split with many of their own party, inspiring a slew of angry congressional Trump supporters, many asking for Cheney’s resignation and to step down, to which she replied: “I’m not going anywhere. Our nation is facing an unprecedented, since the Civil War, constitutional crisis. That’s what we need to be focused on.” 

On the night of the 25th, the House delivered their article of impeachment to the Senate where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will lead the trial against Trump. The trial started this Tuesday, January 26th.