US President-elect Joe Biden has called on the U.S. Senate to live up to its constitutional responsibilities by impeaching President Donald Trump.
Accused of inciting protesters who violently broke into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, halting Congress debate to confirm Mr. Biden’s electoral college vote, Mr. Trump was impeached by Nancy Pelosi-led House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Mr. Biden on Twitter said Mr. Trump’s impeachment is a welcome development and a way to hold him accountable, calling on the Senate to do the needful.
“Today, in a bipartisan vote, the House voted to impeach and hold President Trump accountable”, Mr. Biden said in a tweet on Thursday. “Now, the process continues to the Senate—and I hope they’ll deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation.”
Mr. Trump, who survived an impeachment last year as Republican controlled Senate refused to uphold the impeachment by the House of Representatives, became America’s first president to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives.
However, the American Senate is on recess and will be resuming plenary on January 19, a day before Mr. Biden’s inauguration as America’s 46th President. This could be an escape for Mr. Trump as opinions are divided over whether he could be impeached after he has handed over and left office.
Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, in a statement on Wednesday rejected a request to treat Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial as an emergency and reconvene the Senate immediately.
“Even if the Senate process were to begin this week and move promptly,” Mr. McConnell said, no final verdict would be reached until after President Trump had left office. “This is not a decision I am making; it is a fact”.
