Former President Donald J. Trump managed to make history in the last weeks of his term. After the storming of the United States Capitol, by a mob of Trump supporters, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him for inciting the attacks. The charge was issued January 13th, 2021 and makes Trump the first President to be impeached twice. The trials are predicted to proceed no longer than his first impeachment trials which were around three weeks. They will begin February 9th and here is everything you need to know.
The trials started off rapidly due to Vice President Mike Pence refusing the use of the 25th amendment which could have had Trump removed from office and forced Pence to take over for the time being. The Vice President declined the use of this amendment because he believed it would not be in the country’s best interest to do so. Due to the rejection, the house proceeded with the article of impeachment. Quite a few Republicans turned and voted with the Democrats in order to push the impeachment forth which was a benefit and led to it going through successfully. Presiding over the upcoming trials will be one of Vermont’s Democratic Senators, Patrick Leahy. Leahy has been serving since 1975 and is classified as a senior member of the majority. This is a major change from the first impeachment trials when Chief Justice John Roberts was called on by the US Constitution to preside over them.
As most things in politics go, there are many conflicted opinions on whether it is constitutional to impeach a former President. This was put to a vote by the senators given the fact that the Senate can not put Trump on trial after his term has ended. The vote ended up leaning in the Democrats favor with 55 to 45 in favor of the impeachment. This upset the 45 on the other side of the vote including Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky who originally declared the trials were unconstitutional. However, many believe that this impeachment will lead to a better future for the country.
“Impeaching Trump is vital at this point because it would ensure that he can’t try to run again.” said junior Andie Bronstad. “I think it’s very important that he has as little power as possible going forward.”
The restriction of Trump running again in the future is a main driving point for the impeachment. Yet there are many other factors that will follow the impeachment such as the loss of an annual travel budget, funding for an office, and a lifetime pension which all are classified under the ex-President benefits. This has left Trump and his team quickly preparing to defend in his favor. An attorney from South Carolina, Butch Bowers has been chosen to defend Trump. It has not been decided yet if any witnesses will be speaking but the House requested that Trump would testify in hopes that they would get a quote on his position surrounding the Capitol Building attacks. This was rapidly declined by his legal team which now forces the Democrats to attempt to find a witness to speak against him. As the trials quickly come closer, everyone is holding their breath to see how it will unfold.
“I believe that this should 100% go through.” said freshman Shane Caballero. “He caused a lot of conflict and separation. It will benefit us in the future and cause less division in the country. Having him permanently out of office is in our best interest.”
Regardless of various beliefs and opinions, most all of America will be watching and waiting for results. After the riots at the capitol, we can only hope for a smooth trial with as little conflict as possible. Be sure to tune in starting February 9 to see more history unfold before us.
