News: A second Trump impeachment?

Friday, January 8, 2021

A second Trump impeachment?

Congress debates impeaching Trump for a second time; the Covid-19 pandemic continues to worsen.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Benjamin Rosenberg.

TOP NEWS

Congress and the Cabinet discuss removing Trump from office

Getty Images

After Wednesday's mob scene at the Capitol building, calls are growing from Congress — and, to a lesser extent, the president's Cabinet — for a renewed debate on impeachment. President Trump has less than two weeks left in his term, but some fear that's too much time. [Washington Post / Mike DeBonis]
Democratic leaders from both houses of Congress — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — support removing Trump from office, and while few congressional Republicans share their view, three moderate GOP governors do. [Vox / Jen Kirby]
Invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump may not be on the table because it requires support from Vice President Mike Pence. As fractured as Pence's relationship with Trump is, the vice president does not support removal. [Vanity Fair / Eric Lutz]
Thus, the House would have to follow a similar process as it did when it impeached Trump in 2019. Pelosi signaled her chamber's intention to impeach the president again if he does not immediately resign because of his role in a "horrific assault on our democracy." [NYT / Nicholas Fandos and Luke Broadwater]
The speaker told her Democratic caucus that there is more support for impeachment than last time, and with time running out until President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated, the House could vote on impeachment by next week. The impeachment would be for "incitement of insurrection." [CNN / Lauren Fox, Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb, and Daniella Diaz]
Pelosi's Republican counterpart, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, urged Democrats not to go through with impeachment, saying doing so with a mere 12 days left in office would "only divide our country more." [Axios / Ursula Perano]
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska became the first GOP senator to say he would consider removing Trump. In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Sasse said he heard from White House aides that the president was "delighted" by his supporters storming the Capitol. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
In the meantime, more top Trump administration officials have announced their resignations. The latest is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has until now remained loyal to the president throughout his term. [Vox / Dylan Scott]
Trump announced Friday morning that he will not attend Biden's inauguration on January 20, becoming the first president not to attend his successor's inauguration since Andrew Johnson. He made the announcement in his third tweet since regaining access to his Twitter account, after the social media platform locked it following the Capitol riot. [CNBC / Amanda Macias]

Covid-19 is surging all around the world

The US recorded more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths on Thursday for the first time, another horrific milestone in a crisis worsening by the day. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who will be the chief medical adviser in the Biden administration, said he expects the figures to get worse later this month. [NPR / Mark Katkov]
Vaccine rollout has been slow under the Trump administration, and Biden has made it clear he will make vaccination a priority upon taking office. The president-elect said Friday that he will immediately release all vaccine doses currently in reserve after the inauguration. [Vox / Kelsey Piper]
The pandemic is at its worst point yet in much of the rest of the world as well. New, potentially more contagious variants of the coronavirus have led to fresh outbreaks in the United Kingdom and South Africa, although the existing vaccines should still be effective against them. [Vox / Brian Resnick]
Brazil became the second country, after the US, to reach 200,000 deaths Thursday. Beaches were packed in Rio de Janeiro on New Year's Eve, and right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has lifted most travel restrictions. [AP / Mauricio Savarese and Diane Jeantet]
The Czech Republic's largest crematorium, in the eastern city of Ostrava, is overwhelmed with pandemic victims, with all three chambers working around the clock. The center is receiving more than 100 coffins per day, twice its maximum capacity. [AP / Karel Janicek]

MISCELLANEOUS

After Wednesday's riot at the Capitol, the US fell below the Polity index's democracy threshold. It is now considered an anocracy, a country with both democratic and autocratic characteristics.

[Slate / Joshua Keating]

Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund will resign on January 16 in the wake of Wednesday's events. But some congressional Democrats say that's not enough, calling for GOP Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas to step down as well. [CNN / Manu Raju and Ted Barrett]
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed a need to improve his country's relations with the outside world. South Korean intelligence said Kim is worried about North Korea's standing once Biden, who has called him a "thug," takes office in the US. [AP / Hyung-Jin Kim]
Iranian state media has announced that the country is building an underground missile base on the Persian Gulf coast, just before Biden, who has announced his plan to reinstate the 2015 nuclear agreement, becomes president. [CNN / Mostafa Salem and Tamara Qiblawi]
Elon Musk surpassed Jeff Bezos on Thursday to become the richest person in the world, with a net worth of more than $185 billion. [CNBC / Robert Frank]

VERBATIM

"As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren't as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building."

[Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, discussing why he would consider voting to remove President Trump from office]