Trump Impeached For Historic 2nd Time Over Deadly Riots At US Capitol

The Republican-controlled Senate acquitted Trump in his first impeachment trial, but Democrats hope enough GOP members in the upper chamber will see things differently when they send over the charges this time.

However, there’s little time to act before Biden takes office, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told his Democratic counterpart, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a phone call before the impeachment vote that he will not convene the chamber early for trial, a source familiar with the conversation told the Daily News.

That means Trump’s trial won’t start at the earliest until Jan. 19 — the day before Biden’s inauguration.

Democrats, who will regain majority control of the Senate next week, are expected to push for putting Trump on trial even if it takes place after he’s out of office, as the occasion will allow them to separately vote to bar him from ever holding a government job again.

Among the ten Republicans who voted for Trump’s impeachment was upstate New York Rep. John Katko, the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House.

Few of the impeachment-backing Republicans were given time to speak during the debate, but in a soaring speech closing out the debate, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Pelosi’s top lieutenant, praised them for bucking the party line, calling them “courageous.”

Hoyer also took withering aim at the Republicans who have continued to protect Trump despite his insurrection.

“His desire for autocracy and his glorification of violence have not been tempered but rationalized by those who sought to profit financially and politically from their proximity to power,” Hoyer said. “There can be no mistaking any longer about the kind of man sitting in the Oval Office or his intentions and capabilities. The curtain has been pulled back.”

The other 197 Republicans in the House voted against the article, though many of them — including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — still condemned Trump’s riot-inciting speech, dealing a blistering intraparty blow to the outgoing president.

“The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding,” McCarthy said, proposing instead that Trump be formally censured by Congress for fanning the flames of mob violence.