Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider has joined a growing group of lawmakers who intend to file articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump after a violent mob stormed the United States Capitol on Wednesday.
Citing Trump’s “willingness to incite” violence ahead of the attack, Schneider said that he intends to help introduce the articles of impeachment during a Monday session in the House of Representatives, just nine days before the end of Trump’s term in office.
“The president’s encouragement of the insurrection and his intended disruption of our Constitutional duty to count the certified electoral college ballots is a direct threat to our rule of law, national security and democracy,” he said. “His willingness to incite, and potentially facilitate, violence against a coequal branch of government are as much a mortal threat to our Constitutional republic as they are a violation of our nation’s laws.
Therefore, on Monday, I intend to help introduce a resolution impeaching President Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors,” he continued.
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-5) told reporters that she began to draft articles of impeachment against the president during Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters. On Sunday, Omar confirmed that she will introduce two articles of impeachment against the president on Monday, citing what she calls his “abuse of power” in his actions in attempting to convince Georgia election officials to “find votes” to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state, and his “incitement of violence” in connection to Wednesday’s attack at the Capitol building.
Other Democratic lawmakers, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have signed on to the articles of impeachment, and now Schneider is poised to join that effort this week.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has called for Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, has said that if the president is not removed, that she will work to impeach him for a second time. The president was impeached in 2019, and was acquitted on charges in the winter of 2020.
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While many Republican lawmakers have called on Biden and other top Democratic officials to step back from impeachment threats, several members of Trump’s party have called on him to step down or to be removed from office, including Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey also called for Trump’s resignation on Sunday.
A simple majority of lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled House could impeach the president, while a two-thirds vote in the Senate would be required to remove him from office. Trump’s term expires on Jan. 20, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that a trial for the president could potentially last beyond that date.
