Democrat-controlled House votes to impeach Trump a second time

The Democrat-led House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday. 

The final vote of 232 to 197 marks the second time the House voted to impeach Trump, who has just seven days remaining in office. Trump is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. 

Unlike the effort in 2019, House Democrats proceeded to a vote without the months of investigations and hearings. No House Republicans supported Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.

The impeachment resolution argues that Trump incited an "insurrection" among his supporters ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday.

The House voted on the "rule providing for consideration" of the impeachment resolution and it passed 221-203.

After the vote on the rule, the House debated the impeachment resolution and voting took place. 

"We must take action," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. Democrats also argued that they had enough evidence to proceed with the impeachment process.

In the House, five Republicans said in advance of the vote that they would support impeachment. New York Rep. John Katko was the first Republican to say he’d vote to impeach. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the chamber’s No. 3 Republican and the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington also said they would support impeachment.

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick introduced a resolution to censure Trump as an alternative to impeachment. House Democratic leaders pursued the impeachment route and did not put the censure resolution up for a vote. 

The article of impeachment now heads to the GOP-controlled Senate for a trial. The Senate comes back into session on January 19, which is one day before Donald Trump leaves office. A Senate impeachment trial is unlikely to get underway before Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20.

The Senate held such a trial in February 2020 and did not convict Trump. 

Right now, Democrats do not appear to have the two-thirds votes to find Trump guilty in the Senate.

Some Democrats suggested Pelosi might wait to send the article of impeachment to the Senate and allow Biden to begin his term without impeachment hanging over him but many other Democrats have urged the California Democrat to move immediately.