Second impeachment of Donald Trump
Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the second time on January 13, 2021, one week before his term expired. It was the fourth impeachment of a U.S. president, and the second for Trump after his first impeachment in December 2019.[1][2]
For the trial in the Senate, see Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.Second impeachment of Donald Trump
January 13 – February 13, 2021
(1 month)
Acquitted by the U.S. Senate
Incitement of insurrection
232
197
0
4
Approved
Incitement of insurrection
57 "guilty"
43 "not guilty"
Acquitted (67 "guilty" votes necessary for a conviction)
The House of Representatives of the 117th U.S. Congress adopted one article of impeachment against Trump of "incitement of insurrection", stating that he had incited the January 6 attack of the U.S. Capitol. The House impeachment managers formally triggered the start of the impeachment trial on January 25 by delivering to the Senate the charge against Trump.[3] The trial in the Senate was scheduled to start on February 9.[4] The trial was the first of its kind for a departed U.S. president, with Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Trump having been the subjects of the prior impeachment trials. Many Republican senators challenged the validity of holding an impeachment trial for a president no longer in office while proponents cited the Senate's 1876 trial of William W. Belknap, the Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant, who was impeached but not convicted after resigning from office immediately prior to a House vote on his impeachment.[5] At the trial, 57 senators voted "guilty", which was less than the two-thirds majority needed (67) to convict Trump, and 43 senators voted "not guilty", resulting in Trump being acquitted of the charges on February 13, 2021.[6]
In August 2023, Trump was twice indicted for the conduct at issue in his impeachment, once in Georgia and once federally.
Opinions
Support
In the aftermath of the attack, members of media and political organizations expressed support for Trump to be either impeached or removed through the methods outlined in the 25th Amendment. Any impeachment by the House of Representatives requires a trial and conviction in the Senate, with the concurrence of two-thirds of Senators present and voting needed to remove the President from office. During the impeachment and trial process, the President remains in office. On January 8, the extent of support among Senators for an impeachment process was unclear, particularly given the length of time necessary to organize a trial and the short duration remaining of Trump's presidency.[68] Poll aggregate website FiveThirtyEight said that roughly 85% of Democrats, 49% of Independents, and 16% of Republicans supported impeachment. The site also found roughly an 8% drop in Trump's approval ratings following the attack.[69][70]
