Overview: Trump on track to become 1st president impeached twice
President Trump, one week ago, encouraged thousands of his supporters to march on Capitol Hill, firing them up with baseless claims of election fraud and instructing them to "fight like hell" in order to "stop the steal,” while Congress affirmed Biden’s electoral vote victory. That day ended in a violent attack on one of the most revered buildings in America.
One week later, Trump finds himself on track to become the first president in American history to be impeached twice as the House of Representatives is scheduled to convene at 9 a.m. Wednesday to debate a rule, then debate on one article of impeachment charging the president with "incitement of insurrection." A final vote is expected later in the day.
Republicans are expected to argue Trump's rhetoric ahead of the mob Wednesday doesn't arise to an impeachable offense, and Democrats are expected to blast those 139 House Republicans who still objected to election results after the roughly six-hour siege.
With at least 218 House Democrats and five House Republicans announcing they’ll vote to impeach the president, a trial in the Senate is imminent. Half of the country's presidential impeachment trials will then belong to Trump.
While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not publicly indicated when the House would send the article of impeachment to the Senate after its expected passage, she plans to send it to the Senate next week, according to a source involved in the Democratic leadership deliberations on the matter.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said already he won't bring back the Senate from recess before Jan. 19 -- a day before Biden's inauguration. While McConnell has not said if he would vote to convict or whether he'd hold a trial in the Senate, ABC News has learned, he has privately indicated he believes impeaching Trump could make it easier to rid the Republican Party of Trumpism.
Branding his presidency as a "time to heal," both Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have deflected impeachment questions to Congress.-- but with confirmations for Cabinet picks and priorities to pass additional coronavirus relief potentially coinciding with Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate, it’s unclear how Biden -- or the U.S. Senate -- will divide their agendas.