President Donald J. Trump was impeached Wednesday by the House of Representatives, in a 232-197 vote. The historic event marks the first time in U.S. history that a president has been impeached twice, it is also the most bipartisan impeachment in history with all Democrats and 10 Republicans supporting the measure.
Among the Republicans who voted against the leader of their party were prominent names like Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who holds the title of House Republican Conference Chair, the third-highest position in the House GOP leadership.
The full list of Republicans is below:
1. John Katko (NY)
2. Adam Kinzinger (IL)
3. Liz Cheney (WY)
4. Fred Upton (MI)
5. Jaime Herrera Beutler (CA)
6. Dan Newhouse (WA)
7. Peter Meijer (MI)
8. Tom Rice (SC)
9. Anthony Gonzalez (OH)
10. David Valadao (CA)
The President was impeached on one count, the “incitement of insurrection” relating to last week’s Capitol Hill riot which left five dead and a trail of destruction in its wake.
The president repeatedly—and falsely—argued that he had not lost the presidential election to Joe Biden in the months leading up to the riot. He egged on his supporters who agreed with him and invited them to D.C. last week to protest the results.
The president, argued the article, “willfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol.”
His actions “gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government, threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of government.”
In early 2020, the president was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The articles will now go to trial in the Senate, where it will be decided if he remains in office. A two-thirds majority of those present is needed to convict Trump in the Senate, which means 17 Republicans would have to vote against the president in a full chamber. While it appears to be an unlikely outcome, the New York Times reported Tuesday that there were up to 20 Republican Senators “open” to his conviction.
Either way, the trial will not conclude until the president is already out of office.
“Given the rules, procedures, and Senate precedents that govern presidential impeachment trials, there is simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before President-elect Biden is sworn in next week,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday.
