the House Committee on the Judiciary. The following day, the House Committee on Rules convened a hearing to take testimony on the impeachment resolution.[1] During this hearing, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee submitted a 50-page report documenting the Committee’s findings in support of impeachment.[2] At the conclusion of this hearing, the Rules Committee adopted by a recorded vote a special rule providing for House debate on the resolution.[3]
One day later—January 13, 2021—the House voted to impeach President Trump with bipartisan support on charges that he incited an insurrection. The article of impeachment was adopted with the support of 232 House Members, including every Democrat and ten Republicans.[4] The House acted with urgency because President Trump’s rhetoric and conduct before, during, and after the riot made clear that he was a menace to the Nation’s security and democratic system. Moreover, President Trump never disputed the facts that gave rise to his impeachment, which were captured on recordings. Instead he merely stated publicly that what he did was appropriate.
Several Republican Members of the House issued statements explaining their decision to vote for impeachment. For example, Representative John Katko explained:
It cannot be ignored that President Trump encouraged this insurrection—both on
social media ahead of January 6th, and in his speech that day. By deliberately
promoting baseless theories suggesting the election was somehow stolen, the
president created a combustible environment of misinformation, disenfranchisement,
and division. When this manifested in violent acts on January 6th, he refused to
promptly and forcefully call it off, putting countless lives in danger.[5]
- ↑ House Rules Committee Debate on Resolution to Remove President Trump From Office, C-SPAN (Jan. 12, 2021).
- ↑ House Judiciary Committee Majority Staff Report: Materials in Support of H. Res. 24, Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, 117th Cong (Jan. 12, 2021).
- ↑ U.S. House Committee on Rules, Report on Providing for Consideration of the Resolution (H. Res. 24, Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors), H. Rept. 117-2, 117th Cong. (Jan. 12, 2021).
- ↑ Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 17, H. Res. 24 (Jan. 13, 2021.
- ↑ Press Release, Representative John Katko, Statement from Rep. Katko on Articles of Impeachment (Jan. 12, 2021).
