Efforts to impeach Donald Trump

Various people and groups assert that former U.S. president Donald Trump engaged in impeachable activity both before and during his presidency,[1][2] and talk of impeachment began before he took office.[3][4] Grounds asserted for impeachment have included possible violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by accepting payments from foreign dignitaries; alleged collusion with Russia during the campaign for the 2016 United States presidential election; alleged obstruction of justice with respect to investigation of the collusion claim; and accusations of "Associating the Presidency with White Nationalism, Neo-Nazism and Hatred", which formed the basis of a resolution for impeachment brought on December 6, 2017.

The first formal impeachment efforts were initiated by two Democratic representatives (Al Green and Brad Sherman) in 2017, the first year of his presidency.[5][6] Since the Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate during 2017 and 2018, the likelihood of impeachment during that period was considered by all to be low.[7][8] A December 2017 resolution of impeachment failed in the House by a 58–364 margin.[9] The Democrats gained control of the House in 2019 and launched multiple investigations into Trump's actions and finances. Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially resisted calls for impeachment. In May 2019, Pelosi indicated that Trump's continued actions, which she characterized as obstruction of justice and refusal to honor congressional subpoenas, might make an impeachment inquiry necessary. An increasing number of House Democrats and one Republican were requesting such an inquiry.

On September 24, 2019, Pelosi announced that six committees would undertake a formal impeachment inquiry after reports about controversial interactions between Trump and the country of Ukraine.[10] This inquiry resulted in Trump's first impeachment on December 18, 2019.

Protesters calling for impeachment on the day of Trump's inauguration

In January 2021, during the final weeks of Trump's term, a renewed effort was made to remove him from office following his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election by baselessly asserting voter fraud, which resulted in the Trump-Raffensperger phone call and the United States Capitol attack. This effort resulted in Trump's second impeachment on January 13, 2021.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Independent-1-20-2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference WashPost-1-20-2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference VanityFair was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ZT2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference greensherman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference rollcall was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Bump, Philip (July 14, 2017). "No matter how bad it gets for him, here's why Trump isn't getting impeached this year [analysis]". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  8. ^ Burns, Alexander (October 11, 2017). "Pledge to Impeach Trump, a Key Donor Demands of Democrats". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference DeBonis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference formal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).