Democrats are pressing full steam ahead to impeach President TrumpDonald TrumpHouse GOP leader tells members to quit spreading lies on riot, antifaDC attorney general says Trump Organization improperly paid K bill incurred during inauguration70K QAnon Twitter accounts suspended in the wake of Capitol riotMORE for a second time, mocking Republican objections that doing so will deepen divisions in the nation.
Democrats are particularly scornful of Republicans who have supported Trump through the many tribulations of his presidency, yet who now say the impeachment process would impede a process of healing.
When we talk about healing, the process of healing is separate and in fact requires accountability, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-CortezFormer Ocasio-Cortez spokesman: Biden doesn’t ‘have time’ to wait for Manchin’s approval on agendaPelosi acknowledges criticism from Ocasio-Cortez, younger members: ‘I’m not dismissing her’Kinzinger: Trump’s resignation would be ‘best thing for the country to heal’MORE (D-N.Y.) told ABCs This Week on Sunday. And so if we allow insurrection against the United States with impunity with no accountability we are inviting it to happen again. That is how serious it is.
Moe Vela, who served as director of administration in then-Vice President Bidens office during the Obama administration, told The Hill that the GOP argument for comity now is laughable, it really is.Â
And it is disgraceful, frankly, he added. For four years, you have been complicit, enabling a man who has said and done things that you would never let your children say or do. And now you are worried about unity? Give me a break.
GOP voices continued to be raised on Monday making the unity argument.Â
Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamGraham says he’ll back Biden’s CIA pickThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Democrats formally introduce impeachment articleThe Memo: GOP and nation grapple with what comes nextMORE (R-S.C.) tweeted that a second impeachment will do far more harm than good. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDanielRonna Romney McDanielWave of companies cut off donations much of it to GOPRonna McDaniel reelected as RNC chairThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Mastercard – US inoculations begin; state electors certify Biden; Barr is outMORE, who was hand picked by Trump for that role, complained that impeachment proceedings will only divide us further at a time when our country needs to heal and unify.
Both Graham and McDaniel have been vigorous supporters of Trump throughout his tenure.
House Democrats introduced a single article of impeachment against Trump on Monday. The charge is incitement of insurrection. A vote is expected on Wednesday and Democrats are confident they have the numbers to win.Â
Trump was previously impeached in December 2019 for his conduct regarding the government of Ukraine, which he pressured to investigate the Biden family.
Democrats argue that simply putting a second historical black mark against Trumps name is reason enough to proceed.
I dont know what is going to happen in the Senate, but I would be satisfied with his obituary noting that he is the only president to be impeached twice, said Jim Manley, a one-time aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry ReidHarry Mason ReidTrump, Biden face new head-to-head contest in GeorgiaThe fight begins over first primary of 2024 presidential contestMcConnell and Schumer need to make the most of this momentMORE (D-Nev.).
Another Democratic strategist, Robert Shrum, insisted that, I think you dont have any choice but to pursue Trumps impeachment. The president incited an insurrection against the Democratic process. If that is not impeachable, what is?
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin Owen McCarthyHouse GOP leader tells members to quit spreading lies on riot, antifaGOP lawmakers told Trump takes some responsibility for Capitol riotRepublicans gauge support for Trump impeachmentMORE (R-Calif.) sent his colleagues a letter Monday first reported by Punchbowl News in which he laid out other measures to ensure the mob violence seen at the Capitol last Wednesday was rightfully denounced and prevented from occurring in the future.Â
One such proposal was a censure resolution.
However, two Republicans in the upper chamber Sens. Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiRepublicans gauge support for Trump impeachmentDavis: Impeaching Trump: Four reasons not to do so, and one reason why we mustThe Hill’s Morning Report – House to impeach Trump this weekMORE (Alaska) and Pat ToomeyPatrick (Pat) Joseph ToomeyGovernment used Patriot Act to gather website visitor logs in 2019Appeals court rules NSA’s bulk phone data collection illegalDunford withdraws from consideration to chair coronavirus oversight panelMORE (Pa.) have already said Trump should resign.Â
Democrats, for their part, simply wont countenance anything less than impeachment and certainly not at the behest of McCarthy, who was among those voting to raise objections to Bidens election win, right after a mob had ransacked the Capitol.
Democratic divisions, such as there are, concern the issue of timing.
If Trump is impeached by the House, and the House then sends the article of impeachment directly to the Senate, the upper chamber must begin its trial process immediately. The House could also hold onto the formal notification of impeachment, to allow the Senate to focus on the early days of President-elect Bidens agenda.
Biden on Monday said he had floated the idea of allowing the Senate to bifurcate its business, so it would spend half day on dealing with impeachment, and half day getting my people nominated and confirmed in the Senate as well as working on other legislation.
It is not yet clear whether this is possible under the Senates often-arcane rules.
The nuts and bolts of the process concern some Democrats.
I think the challenge is if this bleeds over into the new term, said one Democratic strategist who asked for anonymity to speak candidly. There is no question that Trump should be impeached and convicted but the problem is, how much time is there left? Do Democrats really want to give Trump the opportunity, in the first weeks of a Biden administration, to dominate the narrative?
The attempted coup at the Capitol last week is so recent that pollsters are only beginning to gauge public reaction.Â
A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday found that voters overall favored Trumps removal from office, by 52 percent to 45 percent. A broadly similar share believed he should resign. Trumps job approval in the poll, just 33 percent, was tied for his all-time low.
But that same poll also showed, yet again, the extent to which the nation is cleaved in two.Â
Ninety percent of Democratic voters asserted that the GOP members of Congress who tried to stop the certification of Bidens victory were undermining democracy. Twenty-three percent of Republicans agreed, but 70 percent of Republicans said those members were in fact protecting democracy. Seventy-three percent of Republicans contended, against the evidence, that there was widespread voter fraud in the election.
But for Trump critics, the impeachment issue is far too elemental to be affected by polling, one way or another.
Trump simply has got to be held accountable for what hes done, said Manley, while demonstrating to his supporters that there are clear lines that we arent going to allow to be crossed.
The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.
