House voting impeachment on Trump: time, TV and how to follow the results
The House of Representatives will vote on the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol Hill riots last week.
On Monday House Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the violent scenes in the Capitol last week. The ‘Stop the Steal’ protest, which Trump personally addressed from the White House, then marched on and broke into Congress, leaving five people dead.
The House plan to vote on the matter today with the House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirming on Monday that the hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Trump is charged with “incitement of insurrection”, which would make him the first president to be impeached twice.
The impeachment article, which was introduced by Democrats David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Ted Lieu of California, points to Trump’s repeated refusal to accept the result of the November election and his impassioned speech last week which demanded his supporters “fight” and “show strength”.
When will the vote begin?
For the first impeachment trial against Trump the accusations against Trump were more convoluted, and required much more detail and multiple days of hearings to establish a decision. This time around things are much simpler with little time needed to discuss the events that transpired.
The Congressional session is scheduled to begin at 9:00am (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, 13 January. Given that there is a Democrat majority in the House and that a number of Republican members have already publicised their support for impeachment, the House is expected to pass the article of impeachment by the end of the day.
How to follow the impeachment of Donald Trump
The hearing into Trump’s alleged crimes in the House will begin at 9:00am (ET) and may well take up much of the day’s business. In a brief interview held yesterday Trump refused to apologise for his role in the Capitol Hill riots and is determined to see out his remaining time in office.
All of the major TV news networks will be reporting from the Capitol all day as House Democrats look to impeach Donald Trump for the second time, making him the first President to do so.
You can also follow all of the action in our Trump impeachment: live updates.
Republican revolt expected as GOP lawmakers announce support for impeachment
The first Trump impeachment was voted on back in January 2020 with the Republican Party much more united behind the President than it is currently. Back then only one Republican, former GOP presidential candidate Sen. Mitt Romney, crossed the aisle to vote in favour of impeachment, but several members of Trump’s own party have now spoken out against him.
The third highest-ranking Republican lawmaker in the House, Rep. Liz Cheney, has publically stated her belief that Trump should be impeached, saying he had "summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack".
In support of the House Republican Conference Chair, three other GOP members have come out against the President with John Katko, Adam Kinzinger and Fred Upton also expected to vote in favour of impeachment.
The article of impeachment will likely pass the House comfortably today but the real challenge comes in the Senate, where a two-thirds majority is needed to convict. For Trump’s first impeachment it was the Republican-held Senate that saved him as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell whipped the GOP caucus to vote against.
However this time McConnell is allowing his members to vote freely, making it more likely that some will vote to impeach. On Tuesday evening reports emerged suggesting that McConnell is actually “pleased” with the Democrats’ efforts to remove the President, although he has not publically confirmed that he would vote to impeach.