Vox Sentences - 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.

• 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]