13th January, 2021
The US House of Representatives has begun impeachment move against President Donald Trump few days to his exit as president.
The move to carry out second impeachment on Trump followed incitement of a mob to invade the Capitol last week.
The House is currently debating on the impeachment process and votes may decide whether to go on or not.
Steny Hoyer,the House majority leader, rejected Republicans’ arguments that a swift impeachment would only further divide the country, after the president incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol.
“There are consequences to actions, and the actions of president of the United States demand urgent, clear action by the Congress of the United States,” Hoyer said.
According to the UK Guardian, Hoyer quoted the five Republican members of Congress who have already said they will support impeachment, including Liz Cheney, the House Republican conference chair.
The majority leader predicted that more Republicans would join them in supporting impeachment when the vote happens this afternoon.
Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina takes the stand for her first speech as a representative. She begins by saying everyone must be held accountable for what happened.
She quoted Rev Martin Luther King Jr, saying: “The time is always right to do what is right.”
If Congress is “serious about healing divides,” she continued, “then both sides need to recognise, number one, that our words have consequences. That there is violence on both sides of the aisle, we’ve contributed to it.”
She called on lawmakers to “acknowledge there is a problem and stop being part of the problem.”
Republican Jason Smith of Missouri said it is “vital” to get the facts on what went wrong and ensure it never happens again, saying that he was in the chamber when Ashli Babbitt lost her life, “less than 50 feet from where we stand”.
“I was in this chamber when those gunshots rang. That is real stuff. That should never happen in the People’s House.”
The Missouri congressman asks Democrats to aim for healing.
“At a time when our nation is more divided than ever before, let’s put people before politics. President Trump will be leaving in seven days. Let’s try to heal this nation, let’s listen to the American people.”
He called this a “reckless impeachment” that would only serve to “bring up the hate and fire more than before”.
Last week, Smith voted to object to the presidential election results which had been approved by the states and in dozens of courts just hours after the riot.