House Democrats to Introduce Trump Impeachment Article on Monday

Democrats in the House of Representatives will introduce legislation on Monday urging the impeachment of President Donald Trump, Representative Ted Lieu said on Saturday.

In a tweet, Lieu, who was an active participant in the December 2019 House impeachment of Trump that ultimately failed in the Senate, said there were now 180 co-sponsors for one new article of impeachment following rioting in the Capitol on Wednesday by Trump supporters.

But outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has informed senators that a potential trial in the Senate following impeachment in the House is unlikely to begin before Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

According to CBS News, a memo from McConnell to senators explains that as the Senate is currently not fully in session, unless there is unanimous agreement by all 100 senators to push a trial forward — an unlikely prospect — the earliest a trial could begin in earnest is Jan. 20. This would leave the national focus squarely on Trump and his controversies as Biden takes office and seeks to move the country forward.

Democrats will gain a razor-thin majority in the Senate on Jan. 22, but impeaching a president in the Senate requires a two-thirds majority.

Still, unlike Trump’s first impeachment in 2020, which fell along party lines, there appears to be much more appetite by Republican lawmakers for a potential repudiation of the president. With support in Congress crumbling over his conduct in recent days and the unprecedented attack on the temple of American democracy, Trump has been left more politically isolated than at any other point in his turbulent administration.

Trump appears to have lost some of his strongest allies, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Two Cabinet members and at least a half dozen aides have resigned. A handful of congressional Republicans are openly considering whether to join a renewed push for impeachment.