Welcome to Politics in Review, a rundown of the biggest political news of the week in one place with no fluff!
Second Impeachment
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time for inciting the insurrection at the capitol on Jan. 6.
While introducing the single article of impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., described Trump as a, “clear and present danger to the nation we all love.” Unlike the first impeachment last year, ten republicans broke ranks and voted to impeach the president, including Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the No. 3 GOP member of the house. The GOP members voted along with the full Democratic caucus, bringing the final vote to 232-197 in favor of impeachment.
In establishing themselves against impeachment, house GOP members relied primarily on three different arguments. According to The Associated Press, some believed the impeachment to be a rushed undertaking aimed at settling old scores with the president, while some repeated the debunked claims of election fraud.
Other objections from the GOP were in the name of national unity, calling on congress to simply move forward and focus on bringing the country back together ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration. Representatives favoring impeachment have maintained that the only way to move forward is to hold accountable those who were responsible for the uprising.
From here, the article of impeachment will be transferred to the senate, where a trial will be held and senators will vote on whether or not to remove the president. The earliest the senate could convene for the trial is Jan. 19, as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that they won’t reconvene before then, since the senate is currently on recess.
Those wishing to read the article of impeachment submitted by the House of Representatives can do so here.
March Toward Inauguration Day
With less than one week remaining until Joe Biden’s inauguration, preparation has kicked into high gear. Since the insurrection at the capitol last week, security protocols have been tightened up, with plans to have more than 20,000 national guardsmen in Washington D.C. for the event.
As the House of Representatives debated impeachment, President Trump released a five-minute message from the oval office denouncing the violence at the capitol. In the video, the president urged his supporters to remain peaceful during any demonstrations, and said that any political violence on either side will not be tolerated.
The president also released a written statement, saying “I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind, that is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers.” This followed FBI warnings of armed protests across the country.
In Other News
- On Thursday, President-Elect Biden announced a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan that includes direct $1,400 payments, enhanced unemployment and rental assistance. Read the full breakdown here.
- States across the country are becoming increasingly frustrated with the current pace of COVID-19 vaccine distribution, citing a lack of transparency from the federal government.
- Former Mich. governor Rick Snyder has been charged with willful neglect of duty for his role in the Flint water crisis. So far, Snyder is the highest-profile official charged as a result of the state’s probe. More background on the crisis can be found here.
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