The impeachment of Donald Trump
In a watershed moment, US House of Representatives impeaches the American president
Donald Trump has become only the third United States president to be impeached in that nation’s history. While there will be a trial in the US Senate that may acquit him, the vote by the lower House of Representatives still marks a significant milestone as Trump’s presidency enters into final year and he seeks a second term.
Trump joins Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 as the only presidents to be impeached. For Trump to be removed from office, senators would have to vote by a two-thirds majority — unlikely given that they control the upper house by a mostly two-seat majority and none willing to say now, a month before that Senate trial is likely to happen, that they are prepared to break with party lines.
As things stand, this impeachment process indeed stands — and ultimately falls — on party lines. Wednesday’s debate and votes on two articles of impeachment followed the Democrat-Republican split in the House of Representatives, and the Senate vote will probably do likewise. If opinion polls in the US are to be believed, 49 per cent of Americans approve of impeachment, 46 per cent do not.
Trump stands accused of pursuing a scheme to cheat in the 2020 election by pressuring Ukraine to collect dirt on Joe Biden — the one presidential candidate the president fears most in his fight for a second term in the Oval Office. Trump stands accused of withholding funds for Ukraine until it agreed to his overtly political request, and then of obstructing the work of Congress by refusing to comply with its investigation
Trump stands accused of pursuing a scheme to cheat in the 2020 election by pressuring Ukraine to collect dirt on Joe Biden — the one presidential candidate the president fears most in his fight for a second term in the Oval Office. Trump stands accused of withholding funds for Ukraine until it agreed to his overtly political request, and then of obstructing the work of Congress by refusing to comply with its investigation.
Republicans point to the impeachment process as being a witch hunt, one that has been waged against the democratically elected president from the very first day he won office. They point to the Mueller investigation into Russian interference as being a similar failed smear campaign, and warn that there will be political consequences for Democrats in the fallout of the impeachment trial.
The reality is that Americans voted for Trump to be different, to shake up Washington, to be a force that stood up for ordinary people who felt ignored by their politicians. He certainly has shaken things up in his own way. The US economy is largely booming.
While Trump will go down in history as the third US president to be impeached, the ultimate verdict on his presidency will come in November when Americans get to vote.