Donald Trump made ignominious history yet again today by becoming the first U.S. President to impeached by the House of Representatives a second time.
His second impeachment comes only a week after the siege at Capitol Hill by Trump supporters which killed five people including a Capitol police officer. It also comes one week before Joe Biden is due to be sworn in as President of the United States.
Unlike Trump's first impeachment in December 2019, 10 Republicans joined the Democrats in supporting the measure including Liz Cheney, the third ranking Republican in the House of Representatives and daughter of former VP Dick Cheney.
But it is all for naught as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to consent to a Senate trial effectively allowing Trump to serve the rest of the term although he remains a clear and present danger to national security. McConnell cited the lack of sufficient time. Evidently one cannot conduct an impeachment trial in seven days but one can confirm a Supreme Court justice in eight. McConnell is said to be prepared to vote in favor of impeachment. If he were then he would have agreed to try Trump without haste.
Once Georgia's Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are sworn in then Democrats take control of the Senate there will be a trial but the earliest that could happen would be on January 19th - the day before Trump's turn ends. Trump could be impeached with the proviso that he never be permitted to run for public office again. But the damage cannot be undone.
As for Trump, I think he will wear this impeachment with the same badge of honor as he wore his first. At the time, I wrote:
Under any other circumstances, impeachment would have weakened Trump's authority and hold on office. But the Senate has already acquitted Trump before the trial begins. This is a consequence of Mitch McConnell and the Republican majority turning the Senate from an independent body and co-equal branch of the federal government into an auxiliary of the White House. There is also a very good chance Trump will continue to abuse his power and engage in other conduct unbecoming a President. And Trump can tweet, "What are you gonna do about it? Impeach me?"
Yet above all other considerations Trump is a man incapable of shame let alone self-reflection except only to gaze at his own image in wonder. Indeed, Trump is going to wear impeachment as a badge of honor and use it as a rallying cry as he did last night at a rally in Battle Creek, Michigan. There will be hundreds of rallies to follow between now and November 2020 and as long as people keep showing up to them and worshipping at his altar Trump has no reason to give ground. Nothing would make Trump happier than to be the first President to be impeached and than re-elected. For him, this would be even better than seeing his poll numbers rise after shooting someone on Fifth Avenue.
True, Trump wasn't re-elected. But that didn't stop him from claiming he had been decisively re-elected and that the election had been stolen. Indeed, it is these very claims which led to last week's attempted insurrection and today's second impeachment. While impeachment is a dubious distinction it means very little if it is not accompanied by removal.
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