Getty
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has always been incredibly straightforward with her thoughts on whether or not Donald Trump should be formally impeached, and has repeatedly called for the House to step up. In fact, she believes “Congress had a duty to begin impeachment,” ever since the Mueller report came out, and that “by failing to act, Congress is complicit in Trump’s latest attempt to solicit foreign interference to aid him in US elections.”
The U.S. senator from Massachusetts shared her thoughts while appearing on The Rachel Maddow Show back in April, and her stance has remained unchanged. Warren said, “We can’t ignore a president’s repeated efforts to obstruct an investigation into his own disloyal behavior. The House should initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the United States.”
The House must impeach. It must start today.
On September 24, after Rep. John Lewis called for impeachment proceedings to begin, Warren tweeted shared his urgency. She said, “I called for impeachment five months ago, the day after the Mueller report came out. Trump continues to commit crimes because he believes he’s above the law. If Congress does nothing to respond, he’ll be right. We must begin impeachment proceedings—now.”
On September 20, Warren tweeted, “A president is sitting in the Oval Office, right now, who continues to commit crimes,” Warren tweeted. “He continues because he knows his Justice Department won’t act and believes Congress won’t either. Today’s news confirmed he thinks he’s above the law. If we do nothing, he’ll be right.”
Why Are the Democrats Trying to Impeach Now?
The move to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump has gained steam based on the intelligence community staffer’s whistleblower report about Trump’s July phone call where he pressured the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump denied these allegations and said he will release a full transcript of the phone call soon.
Also on Tuesday, it was reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who’s been a key figure in delaying the impeachment process thus far, saying it would be too divisive, would “announce a formal impeachment inquiry this afternoon and imply that she herself favors impeachment…” Democrats have drawn criticism for not being more proactive in holding the president accountable for alleged obstruction of justice, but it appears Pelosi is finally ready to take the next step.
If the impeachment process moves forward, and all 435 House members vote, they would need 218 votes for a majority to be reached and for Trump to be impeached. There are 235 Democrats in office in the House, one Independent, and 199 Republicans. The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict.
How Many Other U.S. Presidents Have Been Impeached?
Only two presidents in U.S. history have been impeached: Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson. Both presidents went through with impeachment proceedings, both were acquitted by the Senate and able to carry out the rest of their presidencies. President Richard Nixon resigned before the House could vote on impeachment charges.
READ NEXT: Why Is Trump Feuding With John Legend & Chrissy Teigen on Twitter?