All Democratic Members Of Illinois Congressional Delegation Vote To Impeach President Donald Trump
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The United States House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time. He will go down in history as the only president to be impeached twice.
The vote was on a single charge of inciting an insurrection. It comes one week after a violent mob took over the Capitol. Unlike President Trump's first impeachment in 2019, this time 10 Republicans voted with Democrats to impeach. Those Republicans are: Liz Cheney of Wyoming; Tom Rice of South Carolina; John Katko of New York; Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio; Peter Meijer of Michigan ; Adam Kinzinger of Illinois; Dan Newhouse of Washington; Fred Upton of Michigan; Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington; and David Valadao of California.
The Democratic members of Illinois' congressional delegation were vocal -- all voting to impeach the president.
"He became the first president to incite an attempted overthrow of the institutions he is sworn to protect," said Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, D-4th.
While Republicans from other states condemned the violence at the Capitol last week, they decried the pace of the impeachment process.
"The majority is ramming through the House the most potent tool at our disposal without a single hearing, turning a process that usually takes months into a few short hours," said Republican Congressman Steve Chabot of Ohio.
Chicago's Danny Davis, D-7th, said he and his constituents know enough now.
"Well, I have heard from the people of the 7th district of Illinois. They have told me what to do. They have said impeach this president," he said.
Former White House doctor and now Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson of Texas said impeachment would harm efforts to bring peace to the nation.
"In fact the sham articles of impeachment will only serve to fan the flames of unrest and to appease the radical left's appetite for division," he said.
That drew a pointed response from Chicago's Michael Quigley, D-5th.
"Now we hear talk of healing after the criminal acts are completed," Quigley said. "Never as a criminal defense attorney did I say, 'Judge, yeah, my guy completed the armed robbery, but let's heal now.'"
Republicans said Democrats were silent during last year's unrest following the death of George Floyd.
"Cities were burned, businesses destroyed, and lives violently stolen. And it wasn't just for an afternoon like those horrible hours we had on Jan. 6. But rather they went on for weeks and some cases even months," said one Republican congressman.
Freshman Congresswoman Marie Newman, D-3rd, who represents Chicago's Southwest Side and the nearby suburbs made an appeal to GOP members.
"I agree with my Democratic colleagues," Newman said. "I also agree with my Republican colleagues: Let's unite. Let's unite to address this pandemic. Let's unite by simply agreeing to wear a mask."
No Republicans in the Illinois delegation spoke.
The earliest the Senate can take up the impeachment is Tuesday, Jan. 19. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won't call senators back for an emergency session, so they will not be back until then, the day before President-Elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
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