By Our Correspondent
The United States Congress has impeached outgoing president, Donald Trump.
The Congress voted 232-197 in favour of the impeachment. The American House of Representatives charges Trump with inciting the January 6 mob invasion of the Capitol Hill during the certification of the electoral votes.
Trump makes history as the first American president to be impeached twice.
Last year, the House had impeached Trump for allegedly pressuring Ukrainian officials to open an investigation into Joe Biden. He was however acquitted at the Senate trial.
The impeachment resolution charges Trump with just one article: “incitement of insurrection”.
Since impeachment is only a charge of committing crimes, he will now face trial in the senate which has the power to convict and remove him from office.
However, unlike the house which is dominated by Democrats, the senate is under the control of Republicans until a new Congress is inaugurated.
The chances of getting two-thirds majority in the senate to convict Trump are also thought to be slim, at least for now.
Trump is, therefore, likely to remain in office till January 20 when Joe Biden, the president-elect, is sworn in.
Nevertheless, he could still be convicted by the senate after his exit from office.
The senate could further vote, by a simple majority, to bar him from holding any position in government in the future or receiving $200,000 per year pension as former president.
A ban would douse his hopes of running for office again in 2024, which he had hinted after losing and failing to concede the November 3, 2020 presidential election.
Trump was first impeached in 2019 but the senate did not remove him from office.
Mitch McConnell, senate majority leader and a Trump ally, has already indicated that he will not convene the senate earlier than a day to Biden’s inauguration.
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