House Democrats are considering a possible vote on Trump’s second indictment by next week.

House Democrats are considering a possible vote on Trump’s second indictment by next week.

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House President Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team went through their options on Thursday night and the overwhelming sentiment was that accusation was the way forward, according to various sources. While there were some dissidents who worried that the move could be seen as an agreement and turn off Trump supporters in their districts, the opinion among most top Democrats – including Pelosi – is that Trump should be held accountable for his actions .

This process will be nothing like 2019. It will be fast: no investigations and no hearings over weeks. The most likely scenario is that a member brings a privileged decision to the House floor and presents it during the session.

It requires majority leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, to bring back members, who expect people to be announced somewhere after the 12-hour caucus call. Once they do, it starts the process for a vote within a few days. A simple majority is enough to accuse the president. If they do, it will make Trump the first president to be charged twice.

That would not mean he would be removed from office, requiring the Senate to vote to do so.

Trump's desperate attempt to save his exploding presidency

Staff members of the domestic legal committee are consulting with the authors of one of the Democratic indictments – representatives David Cicilline, Jamie Raskin and Ted Lieu – to prepare to move quickly to a potential indictment on the house floor next week. to three sources.

The aides are helping to amend and refine the indictment, the sources said, which contained an article of accusation of abuse of power, in which he accused Trump of inciting the uprising at the Capitol. The indictment, which was introduced on Thursday, also contains Trump’s call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, but some moderate members are urging accusations to be kept as straightforward as possible to keep the focus on Wednesday’s events.

What to look for

It moves fast. Members were not here two days ago. The events of Wednesday, the images played on television screens, the versions of what happened in the entire Capitol complex, and the president’s approach to everything before and after, all resulted in the feeling that members now need something to happen. Pelosi said the members sent her uninterrupted ‘impeach, impeach’ during her press story on Thursday.

Rep. Massachusetts Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark of the House told CNN’s John Berman on “New Day” on Friday that they could bring articles of indictment to the floor “by next week.” His tweeted later that Democrats ‘worked actively’ to find the fastest timeline for a vote.
Calls increase in Congress for Trump to be removed by accusation or the 25th Amendment
It is not just Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Liberals who are asking for an indictment. There were remarks Thursday from Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan moderate who less than a week ago did not vote for Pelosi for the speaker, who is campaigning for the 25th Amendment. Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia also issued a statement urging the 25th Amendment, but then said: “If the Vice President does not act, it will be necessary that every Member of Congress who is bound by our constitutional oath to continue on “If we refuse to respond to an American president inciting an uprising against our democracy, we can lose it forever.”

More than 60 Democrats, led by representatives Dean Phillips of Minnesota, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, sent a letter to Democratic leaders Friday asking them to meet again and work to accuse Trump of the intrusion on the Capitol Wednesday.

“We are writing to respectfully ask that the House reconvene immediately to take into account the assault on our democracy that we experienced on January 6,” the Democrats wrote. ‘We can raise the question of whether President Trump should be censored or charged with encouraging a violent attack on the US Congress, as well as the proposal by Representative Raskin that Congress should appoint a body, as determined by the 25th Amendment, to determine whether the President is fit to perform the powers and duties of his office.

House Speaker Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who led the House’s accusation against Trump in 2019 over his efforts to put Ukraine under pressure to investigate incumbent President Joe Biden in the early stages of the 2020 campaign , said in a statement Friday that he supports Trump’s removal by the 25th Amendment or accusation.

“Every day when he remains in office, he is a danger to the Republic, and he must leave office immediately, by resignation, the 25th amendment or accusation,” Schiff said.

What would happen in the Senate

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not speak about this. But given that the House is likely to succeed in just a few days in Trump’s presidency, it’s likely that McConnell will just run the clock.

The GOP is frustrated and is upset by Trump at this point. CNN reports that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had a shout-out to Trump on Wednesday as rioters crossed the Capitol building. But McConnell likes to avoid fights within the parties and forcing members to vote on accusations if there are only a few days left of Trump’s presidency would not be a good way to keep his members united.

Sen. Ben Sasse, the Republican from Nebraska who was previously a critic of Trump’s rhetoric in the election fraud, told CBS Morning News he would consider any articles of accusation from the House.

“The House, if they meet and go through a process, I will definitely consider whatever articles they may move, because as I told you, I believe the president has disregarded his oath of office,” Sasse said Friday.

This story was updated on Friday with further developments.

CNN’s Daniella Diaz, Rachel Janfaza and Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.

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