After a domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol incited by President Trump, the House of Representatives is currently preparing to impeach Trump for a second time after less than a year of his first impeachment.
Many are asking themselves if Trump can be impeached for a second time. The Constitution gives broad leeway to the House of Representatives to handle the impeachment process. There are also no limits on the number of times that someone can be impeached, but Trump would be the first person in history to be impeached twice.
Since President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration is very soon, the results of a second impeachment by the House of Representatives would be mainly symbolic and depends on what the Senate decides to do. The Senate is currently adjourned and is not able to resume until January 19th, unless it has the consent of all 100 members, which is very unlikely.
This means that the impeachment trial, if the House of Representatives sends over an article, cannot begin until Trump’s last day in office. But the Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is considering using emergency authority to resume the Senate before, but such action would require the approval of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The House of Representatives can impeach Trump and wait to send it to the Senate. In fact, the precedent for holding articles of impeachment in the House after they are approved is just over a year old. During Trump’s first impeachment, Speaker Nancy Pelosi waited several weeks to send over articles to the Senate while she and McConnell fought over trial rules.
A second impeachment can be used to remove Trump from office and to disqualify him from running again in the future. Majority of the Senate is needed to disqualify Trump from holding office again.
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