Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has told associates “he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party,” according to a report from the New York Times published Tuesday.
Republican leaders are now considering whether to ask Trump to resign following riots at the U.S. Capitol last week. One of those is House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who urged his colleagues not to verbally attack colleagues that vote in-favor of ousting Trump when the article of impeachment was brought to the floor. He said taking that step could “endanger their lives.”
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to impeach Trump for a second time. No other president in U.S. history has gone through the process of being removed from office twice.
A year after he was impeached by the House for obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. Trump was tied to a phone call with Ukrianian President Volodyrmyr Zelensky and accused of withholding funding in a “quid pro quo,” in exchange for an announcement of an investigation into Joe Biden and energy company Burisma. He was later acquitted by the Senate on both charges.
The next step for congressional leaders as Vice President Mike Pence said he won’t be invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Members of the Senate can start hearing the arguments later today after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) presents the article to McConnell.
This is all happening at the same time members of The National Guard are stationed inside the Capitol in response to the FBI warning about more attacks from extremist groups this week. CMPD officers, along with those from other local agencies have been called to the nation’s Capitol to assist in securing the grounds against a possible second wave of attacks.
“This failed attempt to obstruct the Congress, this failed insurrection, only underscores how crucial the task before us is for our Republic,” Mr. McConnell said as the Senate reconvened last Wednesday to finish the electoral count disrupted by the riots. “Our nation was founded precisely so that the free choice of the American people is what shapes our self-government and determines the destiny of our nation.”
A week before President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration in Washington, D.C.
