Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is supporting the conservative effort to have the two impeachments of former President Trump overturned. McCarthy claims that Trump's actions did not warrant either punishment and that he wants to erase both votes from history.
The Speaker of the House stated as he left the Capitol on Friday in preparation for a lengthy holiday break that he supports overturning both impeachments because one "was not based on true facts" and the other "on the basis of no due process."
McCarthy told reporters outside his office, "I think it is appropriate, just as I thought before, that you should expunge it because it never should have gone through. Later, he made it clear that he is in favour of overturning both Trump impeachment proceedings, but he emphasized that such resolutions must first go through the committee procedure.
The Speaker's support for the expungement campaign demonstrates both the shaky hold McCarthy has on his conference, where conservatives are holding him accountable on a number of policy issues, and the significant influence Trump still has over the Republican Party more than two years after leaving office.
House Democrats successfully impeached Trump twice, with the support of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): The first vote, in late 2019, determined that Trump had abused his authority by threatening to halt military assistance from the United States to Ukraine unless Kyiv officials opened an inquiry into his political rivals. The second, in early 2021, found Trump liable for "incitement of insurrection" due to his encouragement of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The first attempt at impeachment was successful in the House without any Republican support. The second was different, and 10 Republicans broke ranks to support impeaching Trump for the shooting spree at the Capitol. Republicans who support Trump in the Senate came together in both instances to block a conviction.
Reps. Dan Newhouse (Wash.) and David Valadao (Calif.), two of the ten Republicans who backed the second impeachment, are the only ones who are still in office.
Over time, McCarthy's opinion of the attack on January 6 has changed.
Following the shooting spree at the Capitol, McCarthy took the podium and claimed that Trump was "responsible" for the violence, which was committed by Trump backers attempting to prevent the certification of his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
When it became clear that the GOP would continue to support Trump, McCarthy quickly changed his position. A few weeks later, he paid a visit to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He would later claim that Trump did not "provoke" the riot, and he organized Liz Cheney's (R-Wyo.) expulsion from the GOP leadership for her refusal to believe Trump's lies about his election loss.
When questioned in January about possibly erasing the penalties, the newly elected Speaker responded, "I'll look at it."
Elise Stefanik, the chairwoman of the House GOP Conference, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, unveiled two resolutions on Thursday in an effort to remove Trump's impeachments. With respect to the first impeachment attempt against Trump, Greene is the bill's sponsor, and Stefanik is the name on the second.
The resolutions' practical implications are questionable because there is nothing they can do to revisit the impeachment votes or make the public forget about them. Nevertheless, the bills aim to accomplish both goals, stating that the expungement will clean the historical record "as if such Articles had never passed."
Greene stated earlier this week, prior to the introduction of the measures, that she hoped to witness a "soon" floor vote on the resolutions.
On Capitol Hill, the movement to overturn Trump's impeachment is not new. Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), who is now in the Senate, introduced resolutions to remove both of the former president's impeachments during the previous Congress. However, in the Democratic-controlled House, they were unable to advance.
Republicans who support expungement have come under fire from Democrats this week, who claim that they are only doing so because the former president is still so popular with GOP voters despite his two major scandals.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), who served as the top lawyer for the Democrats during the first impeachment, said, "It's a continuation of Republicans acting as Donald Trump's taxpayer-funded lawyers."
He continued, "It's telling who's introducing them. And it basically comes down to who is trying to win Trump's favour the most.
The Speaker of the House stated as he left the Capitol on Friday in preparation for a lengthy holiday break that he supports overturning both impeachments because one "was not based on true facts" and the other "on the basis of no due process."
McCarthy told reporters outside his office, "I think it is appropriate, just as I thought before, that you should expunge it because it never should have gone through. Later, he made it clear that he is in favour of overturning both Trump impeachment proceedings, but he emphasized that such resolutions must first go through the committee procedure.
The Speaker's support for the expungement campaign demonstrates both the shaky hold McCarthy has on his conference, where conservatives are holding him accountable on a number of policy issues, and the significant influence Trump still has over the Republican Party more than two years after leaving office.
House Democrats successfully impeached Trump twice, with the support of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.): The first vote, in late 2019, determined that Trump had abused his authority by threatening to halt military assistance from the United States to Ukraine unless Kyiv officials opened an inquiry into his political rivals. The second, in early 2021, found Trump liable for "incitement of insurrection" due to his encouragement of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The first attempt at impeachment was successful in the House without any Republican support. The second was different, and 10 Republicans broke ranks to support impeaching Trump for the shooting spree at the Capitol. Republicans who support Trump in the Senate came together in both instances to block a conviction.
Reps. Dan Newhouse (Wash.) and David Valadao (Calif.), two of the ten Republicans who backed the second impeachment, are the only ones who are still in office.
Over time, McCarthy's opinion of the attack on January 6 has changed.
Following the shooting spree at the Capitol, McCarthy took the podium and claimed that Trump was "responsible" for the violence, which was committed by Trump backers attempting to prevent the certification of his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
When it became clear that the GOP would continue to support Trump, McCarthy quickly changed his position. A few weeks later, he paid a visit to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He would later claim that Trump did not "provoke" the riot, and he organized Liz Cheney's (R-Wyo.) expulsion from the GOP leadership for her refusal to believe Trump's lies about his election loss.
When questioned in January about possibly erasing the penalties, the newly elected Speaker responded, "I'll look at it."
Elise Stefanik, the chairwoman of the House GOP Conference, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, unveiled two resolutions on Thursday in an effort to remove Trump's impeachments. With respect to the first impeachment attempt against Trump, Greene is the bill's sponsor, and Stefanik is the name on the second.
The resolutions' practical implications are questionable because there is nothing they can do to revisit the impeachment votes or make the public forget about them. Nevertheless, the bills aim to accomplish both goals, stating that the expungement will clean the historical record "as if such Articles had never passed."
Greene stated earlier this week, prior to the introduction of the measures, that she hoped to witness a "soon" floor vote on the resolutions.
On Capitol Hill, the movement to overturn Trump's impeachment is not new. Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), who is now in the Senate, introduced resolutions to remove both of the former president's impeachments during the previous Congress. However, in the Democratic-controlled House, they were unable to advance.
Republicans who support expungement have come under fire from Democrats this week, who claim that they are only doing so because the former president is still so popular with GOP voters despite his two major scandals.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), who served as the top lawyer for the Democrats during the first impeachment, said, "It's a continuation of Republicans acting as Donald Trump's taxpayer-funded lawyers."
He continued, "It's telling who's introducing them. And it basically comes down to who is trying to win Trump's favour the most.
