The House of Representatives voted January 13 to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time in a swift and bipartisan condemnation of the President's role inciting last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The House voted 232 to 197 to impeach Trump exactly one week after rioters forced lawmakers to flee from the very chamber in which they cast ballots in the fourth presidential impeachment in U.S. history -- and the first time a President has been impeached twice, CNN reports.
Ten Republicans, including the House's No. 3 Republican, Liz Cheney of Wyoming, joined with Democrats to impeach Trump for "incitement of insurrection."
Read alsoRussian chants heard in video of protesters storming CapitolThe vote won't force Trump from office -- the Senate trial isn't expected to begin until after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in next week.
However, the vote was a visceral response from lawmakers in both parties furious at Trump over last week's riot.
"We know that the President of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on the House floor ahead of the vote. "He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."
The speed of the vote and the Republican support underscores the fury that lawmakers feel about Trump's role inciting the rioters who overtook the Capitol, who were fueled by Trump's months of false rhetoric about the election being stolen from him. Cheney's statement was cited by impeachment supporters and detractors alike Wednesday after she charged that Trump "summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack."
"There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," Cheney said.
Wednesday's impeachment vote will complicate the opening days of the Biden administration, both in his efforts to reach out to Republicans and because the Senate is likely to be tied up with a trial just as Joe Biden is taking office.
Read alsoStorming of U.S. Capitol: Arrested rioter needs Russian interpreter – mediaBoth Biden and Schumer have argued that the Senate will try to divide its days while conducting the trial, so the Senate can confirm Biden's nominees and consider Covid-19 stimulus legislation while also carrying out the impeachment trial.
