On Jan. 13, one day after the U.S. House approved a largely symbolic resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25^th Amendment to remove President Trump following last week's deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, the president was impeached for a second time by a vote of 232-197 (5 not voting), a first in the country’s 244-year history.

The single article of impeachment, drafted by Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif. and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) charges Trump with incitement of insurrection. While the president’s first impeachment—for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress—only received a single non-Democratic vote in the House, then-Republican Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.), this impeachment effort garnered ten Republican votes, including the House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.).

With the vote to impeach, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will decide when or if to send the article of impeachment to the U.S. Senate. With the Senate not scheduled to reconvene until Jan. 19, it is likely that an impeachment trial and any vote on conviction would not conclude until days or weeks into President Joe Biden’s administration.  

Further, should a two-thirds majority in the Senate vote to convict President Trump on the article of impeachment, it would then only require an additional majority vote to disqualify Trump from seeking the presidency ever again.

The legislative business of the 117^th Congress and President Biden’s first days in the White House could also be affected by the impeachment process, with a Senate trial potentially delaying cabinet confirmations and other business such as passing additional COVID-19 relief.

ABC will continue to update members on any further legislative considerations regarding impeachment.