The House vote Wednesday will be bipartisan and resounding.
January 13, 2021, 11:01 AM
• 7 min read
The TAKE with Rick Klein
President Donald Trump is about to become the first president to be impeached twice. The second one, while unlikely to drive him from office early, will almost certainly be the one that matters the most.
The House vote Wednesday will be bipartisan and resounding. It will include at least one member of Republican leadership and the math may be even worse for the president in the Senate.
It will constitute a stinging judgment on Trump and his political movement. But it is unlikely to constitute the final words on either topic — and the power of words mark one reason that the impeachment vote has grown in importance as it has approached.
Members of Congress will be voting in the same chambers that were attacked by a violent mob just a week ago. Many of them were almost harmed, and threats to their safety over the next week are growing even while Trump has deflected from taking responsibility.
There will be no witnesses in this trial, in part because those voting on it are themselves all witnesses. They saw what happened last week — and see what could still happen over the next week and well beyond, whether or not they act to rebuke the president.
“The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, said in announcing she would vote to impeach.
Members of both parties have watched Trump and his remaining defenders seek to redefine realities while they explain away and minimize Wednesday’s atrocities.
Those attacks — attacks on facts — are part of what’s on trial in Congress now. Self-interest is in no doubt in play in Republicans for ditching Trump now — but judgments on the importance of facts and truth matter along with judgments on the president himself.
The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks
Two headlines Tuesday illustrate the anxiety, distrust and security concerns overwhelming Washington this week.
First, Republican House members expressed anger and frustration after being asked by leadership to go through a new metal detector before entering the House chamber.
At least one member has been adamant about carrying a weapon on the Hill as of late, and it has worried colleagues.
The same day too, all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff signed onto a stunning internal memo to members of the military reminding them that their mission is to defend the Constitution and any act to disrupt the Constitutional process, including the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden next week,
