In the United States, Democrats determined to impeach Donald Trump

Minority in the Senate, the Democrats united against Donald Trump in the final vote in the impeachment trial, Wednesday February 5, 2020. US Senate TV / Handout via Reuters

Text by: RFI Follow

5 mins

The elected Democrats should start an impeachment procedure.

In the Republican camp, more and more elected officials also seem open to the idea of ​​supporting this measure.

But the former will first ask Vice President Mike Pence to dismiss his President.

Publicity

Read more

Four days after

the events on Capitol Hill

, which left five dead and shook America, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a series of actions to remove the Republican president, described as an " 

imminent threat

 " against the democracy and the American Constitution.

First action: appeal to Mike Pence

American Democrats warned on Sunday that they are ready to launch a new

impeachment

, a historic impeachment procedure against Donald Trump

in the coming days

.

But the Democrats will first call on Mike Pence to urgently activate the 25th amendment to the Constitution.

This consists for the vice-president and the principal ministers to note the inability of the president to exercise his function.

Democrats see Donald Trump as " 

unbalanced 

" and dangerous.

The chamber will be brought on Monday, and if necessary Tuesday, to vote on a resolution asking him to dismiss Donald Trump from his functions.

During a rapid procedure then, if necessary during a formal vote.

Faithful to Donald Trump but having no further contact with him since the events of last Wednesday - the president publicly disavows his number 2 who certified the victory of Joe Biden - Mike Pence has so far shown no desire to trigger these measures.

Nancy Pelosi specifies that the vice-president will have 24 hours to respond to the House's injunction which would amount to making him endorse executive powers for the last ten days of Trump's mandate.

Second option:

impeachment

If the vice-president objects to dismissing his leader, the decision to initiate the impeachment procedure rests with the president of the House of Representatives.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi is therefore likely to trigger it again, she who in 2019 had already initiated the process of impeachment of Donald Trump, accused of having asked Ukraine to investigate his rival Joe Biden.

The articles of indictment against Donald Trump should be finalized today: a call for insurgency after the attack on Capitol Hill, but perhaps also pressure on officials to change the election results.

The Democrats are indeed considering adding this second measure following the telephone recording between Donald Trump and the Secretary of State of Georgia during which the billionaire clearly demanded to change the accounts to reverse the result of the presidential election, specifies our correspondent. in New York,

Loubna Anaki.

Once the articles are ready, elected members of the House could vote on Tuesday or Wednesday.

But if the goal were to remove the president as quickly as possible, Democratic officials might choose not to bring the charges to the Senate.

According to James Clyburn, one of Nancy Pelosi's deputies in the House of Representatives, they prefer to avoid drowning the first days of the Biden presidency under an impeachment trial against Donald Trump.

The priorities are to confirm the members of the cabinet of the new president and the various measures necessary against the health and economic crisis.

Beyond January 20

If the House of Representatives launches the

impeachment

procedure on

Monday, January 11, its course will extend beyond January 20, the date of the end of Donald Trump's mandate and the entry into office of Joe Biden.

Donald Trump's impeachment trial could therefore take place several weeks after his departure from the White House.

Once launched, the impeachment procedure takes place in two stages.

First in the House of Representatives with an instruction lasting several weeks followed by a vote.

In December 2019, the House voted for the impeachment of Donald Trump.

The rest takes place in the Senate, in the form of a trial, and it takes a two-thirds majority for a US president to be removed from office.

this is how

Donald Trump was acquitted about a year ago

...

Three US presidents (including Trump himself, therefore) have been subject to impeachment proceedings.

He could be the very first to be the subject of this exceptional measure on two occasions ...

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • United States

  • Donald trump