 |
| A Senate preoccupied with the process of passing judgment on Trump is one that will be unable to focus on enacting Biden's ambitious first-100-day agenda. (File photo by=AP) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Exactly one week after security forces with guns drawn defended the House of Representatives against an angry mob, legislators gathered in the same chamber to impeach the president that mob supported.
It marked the first time in the 231-year history of the United States that a president has been impeached twice in his term. The single article of impeachment accuses the president of inciting the riot that broke out at the US Capitol after he spoke to a crowd of thousands at a pro-Trump rally near the White House on Wednesday morning. It will be forwarded to the US Senate, where the 100-member body will sit as a jury presided over by the chief justice of the US Supreme Court.
The outcome of that trial, which will not begin until after Joe Biden's inauguration, is very much in doubt. Now, the political implications for the House's action can begin to be assessed. Upon taking the oath, President-elect Biden will have to contend with the Covid19 pandemic and an economy that’s once again worsening. Now he'll also have to do so while a Senate grapples with the impeachment trial of his predecessor. Republicans warned on Wednesday that impeachment would further inflame and divide Americans at a time when the nation needs to heal. It would, they say, make Biden's promise to unify the nation all the harder.
