Congrats are in order for President Donald J. Trump, as he accomplished a truly notable first today. Following a vote by the House of Representatives, Trump is now the first president in history to have been impeached twice.
Twice, my nigga. Twice.
According to NBC News, the vote to impeach passed in the House 232-197, with 10 Republicans voting in favor of impeachment. The House charged the president with “incitement of insurrection” for, well, inciting the insurrection that occurred at the Capitol last week.
The article of impeachment is expected to be immediately sent to the Senate, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said he has no plans to reconvene the Senate before Jan. 19th. This means that we’re likely going to have a simultaneous impeachment and inauguration, which is some shit that I thought was only allowed to happen in Scandal.
“Those insurrectionists were not patriots. They were not part of a political base to be catered to or managed. They were domestic terrorists and justice must prevail,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at the onset of two hour debate period held before the final vote.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) was the highest-ranking Republican to vote in favor of impeachment. NBC News notes that among those who joined her were Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Fred Upton of Michigan, John Katko of New York, Peter Meijer of Michigan, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Tom Rice of South Carolina, David Valadao of California, and Jaime Herrera Beutler and Dan Newhouse of Washington.
It should be noted that zero House Republicans voted in favor of impeachment in 2019, so I guess 10 is a step up? I’m simply glad to know that the other 197 Republicans who were present for the vote are totally cool with a president committing whole-ass insurrection.
House Republicans did try to argue during the debate session that Trump wasn’t being afforded due process and that the impeachment process was rushed—this despite being the same party that was okay with rushing through confirmation of a Supreme Court justice only weeks before an election.
Inconsistency: a true Republican value.
It’s unclear how, exactly, things are going to play out once the Senate takes up the articles of impeachment. Though, considering that by the time the trial begins the Democrats will have a ruling majority in the Senate, it’s looking highly unlikely that Trump will be able to duck impeachment for the second time.
So now that that’s out of the way, how about we all sit back, take a breather, and watch this wholesome clip of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris being offered some mints.