On Wednesday, January 13, 2021, President Trump made history when he became the first United States president to be impeached twice. “I felt like [the impeachment] was…expected after the Capitol riots…but [also] kind of shocking to me that they still decided to go through with it so close to the election,” said Cindy DeDianous ’23. 

With a 232 to 197 vote, the House of Representatives impeached President Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” This charge references when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol after Trump gave a rallying speech that the election results were fraudulent. His supporters then created chaos in the Capitol and violently interrupted the joint session of Congress that was in the middle of confirming Joe Biden’s win. Trump gave a speech that caused his followers to attack the Capitol and instigate harm to government officials, leading to his conviction. 

Despite how quickly the House voted to impeach Trump, some students are still skeptical that the lengthy process will pass. “He will not get impeached. The trial will not be successful because people will not want to dwell on the past four years and instead, prefer to focus on future policy plans,” said Vivian Guo ’21. Though the final decision remains to be seen, the impeachment process will soon pass down to the Senate.

The public may have to wait for that decision as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) has recently expressed his refusal to call the Senate together to listen to the trial until, at the earliest, president-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Biden needs the Senate to pass his proposed bills and approve candidates for his cabinet, so the Senate’s job will become increasingly difficult if they put off the impeachment trial. If Trump does get impeached after he leaves office, the impacts could bar him from running from President in the future and remove certain presidential perks such as his pension. 

Last year, the Senate did not reach the necessary ⅔ majority vote to impeach President Trump because the Republican congressmen voted in favor of keeping Trump in office. In the recent impeachment trial, ten Republican House members voted against Trump despite backlash from the Republican party. Trump made history as his second impeachment had the most bipartisan vote in history. “This [charge] is not a matter of Democrats versus Republicans [but] a matter of character and morals,” explained Maya Gringauz ’23. 

In terms of the impeachment itself, while Vivian Guo ’21 believes that impeachment is the best choice, she recognizes the cons of impeaching the president. “The United States has been experiencing a rise in populism and anti-liberalism… If this second impeachment fails, it will be a further blow to our democracy,” Guo explained. 

The trial also helped to distinguish Republicans from Trump supporters, as a rift grows between the two groups. “[Trump is] leaving office in a bit of a fall of disgrace. There is less incentive for Republicans to be as loyal to him as they were in the past,” said DeDianous.

Inevitably, the political community is ever-changing, and the consequences that this impeachment trial may have on the future are still unknown. The general public will have to wait to see when the Senate will meet to vote and how they will reach a conclusion the second time around. Whether this impeachment will help the U.S. back on the path to political unity or create even more political fracture remains to be seen.