Democrats introduce articles to impeach Trump for insurrection attempt

Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives laid plans Friday to introduce articles of impeachment and hold a referendum soon. But the possibility of impeachment is low as the outgoing administration has 10 days left in the office and most of the Republicans would vote against it. Some analyze that this is a political move to block any attempt to run for presidency again from President Donald Trump’s side in the presidential election in 2024. 　

It takes two-thirds of the 100 seats in the Senate and half of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives to impeach a president. Currently, the Republican party and the Democratic party have 50 seats in the senate respectively. At least 17 republicans have to agree to the impeachment for the article to pass the senate. But the Democratic party has 221 seats, which is more than the majority of 218 seats in the house needed for the impeachment. 　

Politicians in Washington believe that the possibility of the article passing the senate is very low. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell sent a memo to senators that he would not reconvene the Senate until January 19, a day before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. It takes unanimous agreement of 100 senators to reconvene the Senate, but the possibility of that is also very low.


lightee@donga.com