Democratic congressmen have submitted a resolution to the House of Representatives to impeach Donald Trump.

The main author of the resolution was a member of the House of Representatives David Cisillini, co-authors were his fellow party members Ted Lew and Jamie Ruskin.

“President Trump has created a serious threat to the security of the United States and its institutions of power.

He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, obstructed the process of peaceful transfer of power, and created a danger to another equal branch of government.

He betrayed the trust placed in him as president, thereby harming the people of the United States, ”the document states.

Cicillini, Liu and Ruskin emphasize that "by such behavior, Donald John Trump showed that if he remains in office, he will continue to pose a threat to national security, democracy and the Constitution."

“His behavior runs counter to the principles of self-government and the rule of law.

In this regard, Donald John Trump deserves impeachment and trial, dismissal and a ban on occupying any honorary, trusting and paid post in the United States government, ”the congressmen state.

"Must be held accountable"

We will remind, political opponents of Trump are calling for his removal from power in connection with the events of January 6 in Washington.

On this day, Congress was to approve the results of the electoral vote and thereby formally consolidate the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential elections.

However, the meeting was adjourned after Trump supporters, who did not recognize such a result, stormed the Capitol.

  • Donald Trump supporters rally on January 6

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Despite the incident, on the night of January 6-7, the election results were still approved.

The Democratic Party believes Trump is responsible for the actions of the protesters.

“Wednesday of last week was one of the darkest days in the history of our country.

After months of agitation and propaganda against the 2020 election results, the Capitol - the citadel of our democracy - was attacked by supporters of President Trump in an attempt to stage a coup and overturn the results of a free and fair presidential election, ”said a statement by members of the House Judiciary Committee posted on the website Jamie Ruskin.

The Democratic congressmen promised that they would not leave "this unprecedented provocation unanswered."

“Everyone involved in the seizure should be held accountable.

First of all, this concerns whoever is to blame the most - President Donald Trump.

It is impossible to heal the soul of our country until justice catches up with all its enemies, both external and internal, ”the legislators noted.

On the official website of Jamie Ruskin, it is reported that the resolution received the support of 211 members of the House of Representatives.

In turn, the Politico edition, citing its own sources, reports that at least 218 Democratic congressmen are ready to support this initiative.

  • Crowd of protesters outside the Capitol, January 6, 2021

  • © REUTERS / Leah Millis

It is assumed that the vote on this issue will be held on January 13 - seven days before the official expiration of the term of office of the 45th US President.

However, political scientists draw attention to the fact that the possible approval of the resolution will not lead to automatic impeachment - this will only give an opportunity to start proceedings in Congress.

The final decision on impeachment is made by the Senate: in order to remove the head of state from power, it is necessary that two-thirds of the senators vote for this.

Note that after the elections, the seats in the upper house were divided between the Republicans and Democrats in fact equally.

"Crime" and censure

Before starting the impeachment procedure in Congress, the Democrats tried to remove Trump from his post in a simpler way - with the help of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.

The amendment allows for the removal of the head of state from power if the vice president and most senior cabinet ministers decide that he is no longer capable of performing his duties.

The first two clauses of this amendment, providing for the procedure for transferring power from president to vice president in special circumstances and the procedure for approving a new vice president, have already been applied several times in US history, but the fourth clause on the removal of the incumbent president from power has never been used.

To activate the 25th amendment against Trump, the Democrats submitted a resolution to the House of Representatives asking Vice President Mike Pence to begin the procedure for removing the head of the White House from power.

At first, the Democrats offered to approve the document unanimously, without a roll-call vote, but the Republicans blocked this initiative.

The voting is now scheduled for January 12th.

If the resolution is approved, Pence will have 24 hours to respond to it.

  • Mike Pence

  • © REUTERS / Jonathan Drake

In addition, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi personally urged Pence to resort to the 25th Amendment, but so far there has been no official response from the Vice President. 

At the same time, a number of Republicans in the House of Representatives are preparing their own resolution on the events of January 6.

So, on Monday, on the website of The New York Times, Congressman Tom Reed said that his party members intend to submit to the lower house a resolution censuring everyone involved in the riots near the Capitol building, including the current president.

At the same time, Reed himself opposes the impeachment of Trump, since, in his opinion, this will contribute to exacerbating the split in American society.

It is worth noting that condemnation from Congress has no legal consequences for the president.

Trump himself called the situation around the calls for the impeachment of the head of state dangerous for the country.

The calls for his removal are causing "terrible anger," he said.

"Unacceptable for a two-party system"

Recall that this is the second attempt by the Democrats to remove Trump from power.

The first ended in failure, as the Republican-controlled Senate blocked the initiative.

Analysts draw attention to the fact that this time the Democratic Party is trying to carry out an impeachment a few days before the end of the term of office of the incumbent president, when it no longer makes any practical sense.

  • Donald Trump

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According to Andrei Sidorov, head of the Department of International Organizations and World Political Processes at the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University, now the activity of the democrats is mainly aimed at finally discrediting Trump and "putting an end to his political future."

“The Democrats would like Trump to leave his post not within the framework of standard procedures, but through impeachment.

For them, this would mean a final victory over him.

They want to prove to Trump's voters that they voted for a traitor and a mentally ill person, ”Sidorov said in an interview with RT.

In addition, from his point of view, the Democrats seek to destroy the very ideology of Trumpism.

“They are trying to cross out the slogan“ America First ”, discredit his isolationist ideas, kill the so-called Trumpism,” the analyst is sure.

Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, shares a similar point of view.

“The Democrats understand that by the presidential elections in 2024, a negative situation may develop for them, since Biden is unlikely to be elected for a second term and it is not yet known whether Kamala Harris will be able to attract a majority of voters.

In this regard, they are trying to close the road to Trump in politics so that he could not win in the next presidential election, ”the analyst said.

According to him, against this background, the initiative of a number of Republicans to adopt a resolution censuring Trump looks like an attempt to avoid impeachment and at the same time condemn the events of January 6.  

“This is a symbolic gesture by which the Republicans are trying to demonstrate that they understand their responsibility to the country.

In addition, in this way the Republican Party is trying to find a point of consensus in modern America, since Trump's ideology strongly leads the Republicans to the right, which is unacceptable for a two-party system, ”Rogulyov said.

At the same time, analysts believe that Democrats are unlikely to have time to carry out the impeachment procedure before Trump's term expires.

“Most likely, this initiative will not have serious legal consequences simply because there is very little time left before Trump leaves the presidency.

In addition, the Republicans are likely to oppose impeachment, as was the case in 2019, ”concluded Andrei Sidorov.