Donald Trump Impeachment: US House initiates proceedings to impeach President after Capitol assault
Washington, Jan 13: The US House of Representatives on Wednesday began debating legislation to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time of his presidency over last week's deadly U.S. Capitol attack.
US Lawmakers in the lower chamber are expected to vote for impeachment around 1:30 AM (IST), marking the formal opening of proceedings against Trump.
The article of impeachment charges Trump with a count of "incitement of insurrection" for his actions on January 6, when he delivered a speech inciting his supporters to lay siege to the Capitol, an action that temporarily halted the counting of Electoral College votes and resulted in the deaths of five individuals, including an officer of the US Capitol Police.
Unlike the last time Trump was impeached, when no House Republicans supported charges against Trump over a call he made to Ukraine's new president, the current impeachment effort has drawn support from some Republicans.
"More than 215 House Democrats, 5 House Republicans support impeaching US President Donald Trump (218 votes needed). House Majority Leader Hoyer says he would send articles of impeachment to US Senate immediately," according to NBC News.
Trump's 2nd impeachment: How the process works? What if a conviction occurs?
Republican Rep Adam Kinzinger is predicting more Republicans will join him in voting to impeach President Donald Trump.
The House is set to vote Wednesday afternoon on impeaching Trump for a second time, accusing him of rallying a violent mob of supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol last week. If that isn''t an impeachable offense, Kinzinger said, "I don''t know what is." Several other Republicans are backing impeachment, including No 3 GOP leader Liz Cheney.
"This is one of these moments that transcends politics," the Illinois lawmaker told "CBS This Morning" in an interview ahead of the vote.
Besides Kinzinger and Cheney, other Republicans backing impeachment are John Katko of New York, Fred Upton of Michigan and Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington.
Kinzinger wouldn''t say how many more GOP lawmakers might vote to impeach, but said, "there''ll be more than the five you''ve seen so far."