House Impeaches Trump for Second Time on Single Charge of "Incitement of Insurrection"

One week after the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, the House of Representatives voted 232-197 to impeach President Donald Trump on a single article charging him with “incitement of insurrection,” making Trump the first president in American history to be impeached twice. The vote represented the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in U.S. history, with ten House Republicans breaking with their party to support impeachment—more than double the five Democrats who had crossed party lines to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998. The impeachment came with just one week remaining in Trump’s term, making it the fastest impeachment proceeding in American history from the alleged offense to the vote.

The article of impeachment, designated H.Res.24, charged that Trump “willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged—and foreseeably resulted in—lawless action at the Capitol,” specifically citing his January 6 rally remarks including “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that Trump “must go, he is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.” The impeachment proceedings took place inside a Capitol still secured by armed National Guard troops, with newly installed metal detectors and tall security fences surrounding the complex—a stark reminder of the violent assault that had occurred just days earlier.

Historic Republican Defections

The ten Republicans who voted to impeach represented a remarkable break with party loyalty, particularly given Trump’s iron grip on the GOP base. Most significantly, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking House Republican leader and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, issued a scathing statement declaring there had “never been a greater betrayal by a President” of his office. Cheney represented a district Trump had won 70-27% in the 2020 election, making her defection especially notable. She stated unequivocally: “The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not.”

The other nine Republicans who voted for impeachment were: Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, who unexpectedly broke ranks stating Trump’s failure was “inexcusable”; Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, who said the mob was “inflamed by the language and misinformation of the President”; Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, an Air Force veteran who declared Trump “incited this insurrection”; Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, a former NFL player who said Trump “helped organize and incite a mob” and “abandoned his post”; Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, a long-serving member since 1987 who declared “enough is enough”; Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, who stated “I’m not choosing sides, I’m choosing truth”; Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan, a freshman congressman who criticized Trump’s lack of “courage”; Rep. John Katko of New York, a former federal prosecutor who asserted Trump “encouraged this insurrection”; and Rep. David Valadao of California, who called Trump’s rhetoric “un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense.”

Constitutional and Political Implications

The second impeachment occurred under extraordinary circumstances. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that a Senate trial could not begin until at least January 19, the day before President-elect Biden’s inauguration, meaning Trump would likely no longer be in office when the trial commenced. This raised unprecedented constitutional questions about whether a former president could be tried and convicted by the Senate—a question that would be debated extensively when the trial began in February 2021.

The impeachment vote represented a profound fracture in the Republican Party’s relationship with Trump. While 197 Republicans still voted against impeachment—many citing concerns about the rushed timeline or constitutional questions about impeaching a president with days left in office—the ten defectors faced immediate political consequences. Within days, Republican state parties began censuring those who voted to impeach, and Trump allies vowed primary challenges against them. The vote exposed the fundamental tension between Republicans who sought to move past Trump’s norm-shattering presidency and those who remained committed to Trumpism as the party’s future.

The historical significance of the moment was undeniable: Trump became the only U.S. president ever impeached twice, the impeachment occurred in the final days of his presidency following a violent attack he was accused of inciting, and it represented the most bipartisan impeachment vote in American history. The speed of the impeachment—from offense to vote in just seven days—reflected the urgency lawmakers felt about holding Trump accountable before his term expired. House Democrats argued that Trump posed an ongoing threat to democracy and needed to be barred from future office, while many Republicans countered that impeachment would further inflame political divisions. The debate presaged the larger questions about accountability, democratic norms, and the rule of law that would dominate American politics in the years following Trump’s presidency.