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Will Trump be Impeached by the Senate?
Taryn Rodell
[Institutional Affiliation(s)]
Author Note
Will Trump be Impeached by the Senate?
Currently, all of America is focused on the critical news of Trump’s impeachment. Impeachment is a process through which the government’s senior figures hold other government officials like the president, judges, and cabinet members to account if they are accused of committing a crime during duty. The criminal offenses include treason, bribery, or any other significant crime like murder. After impeachment, the accused person goes on a Senate trial which is the upper house. The members decide if he is guilty of the accusation or not. The trial is not political in nature instead criminal. Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America has been impeached as the House passed articles of impeachment, along the party lines on December the 18th (Hughes, 2020). In August, allegations were made against the president by a whistleblower whose identity is being prevented from disclosure. During October to December, closed-door meetings, investigation, and hearings were held in the House of Representatives. The democratic leaders of the House voted in favor of Trump’s impeachment. Two articles of impeachment have been passed. The first article states that he sought Ukraine’s help for his re-election in November. He is accused of withholding millions of dollars worth of military aid that had to be sent to Ukraine. It is said that he desired that Ukraine would publicly announce investigating Joe Biden. Joe Biden is leading the Democratic race to challenge Trump. According to the poll results, Biden can potentially beat Trump, if selected as the Democratic candidate. The second impeachment allegation is that he obstructed Congress which was investigating him. Trump has refused both the allegations. His legal team said that the charges against him are a dangerous misinterpretation of the Constitution.
The case is now passed to the Senate which is under the control of the Republicans. The Senate trial has started. The rules of the trial are being decided by the Senate’s Republican leader, Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer. McConnell desires a speedy trial and quick acquittal of Trump. And thus, he has proposed that for opening statements, each side is given 24 hours for opening arguments over three days. He also wishes to conduct voting on whether any evidence should be admissible at all or not. On the other hand, Schumer asserted that McConnell planned to prevent evidence from being heard. The three Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, and Lisa Murkowski wish to have an option to hear from more witnesses of the allegation related to Ukraine (John & Everett, 2020). They especially wish to hear from John Bolton who is the former National Security Adviser. The main concern of this group and the biggest factor for the trial is whether a fourth Republican would be part of this group. The chances are scarce currently, but it can hugely impact the trial. According to the current situation, over forty Senate Republicans will have to endure the Senate trial. It seems difficult that Trump will be convicted after the trial as the laws are ambiguous when it comes to the impeachment of a president. The other two Presidents who were impeached earlier were not removed from office. If the majority of the Senate votes for the conviction on any one of the two impeachment charges, he will be convicted. The conviction seems unlikely because there is no chance that 67 senators will vote against Trump. These senators will decide whether Trump gets quickly acquitted as he demanded publicly or not. If Trump is convicted, which seems unlikely, he will be removed from office. This situation is more critical for Trump as the reelections are just ten months away. However, the trial can potentially be manipulated for political gain.
References
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Hughes, S. (2020, January 22). As Trump Impeachment Trial Begins, McConnell Changes Some Rules. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/senate-impeachment-trial-of-president-trump-set-to-begin-11579602601
JOHN, B., & EVERETT, B. (2020, January 20). Here are the five Senate factions that will decide Trump’s fate. POLITICO. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/20/senate-trump-impeachment-setup-100646
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