Donald Trump could be set to break yet another norm of the most powerful office in the world this week – becoming the first US president in history to be impeached twice.
After a mob rampaged through the US Capitol building on Wednesday, Democratic-led efforts to impeach Trump have gained momentum over the weekend.
On Sunday night, House speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed the House of Representatives will proceed with legislation to impeach Trump if senior Republicans are not willing to remove him themselves.
Here’s where things stand right now.
Why is impeachment being considered?
On Wednesday, a violent and largely white mob of Trump supporters overpowered police, broke through security lines and rampaged through the Capitol in protest of the formalisation of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Five people, including a police officer, died as a result of the siege.
The violence came directly after Trump encouraged a crowd of supporters in DC to take action and repeated baseless claims of election fraud.
How did Trump react to the violence?
On Friday, Republican senator Ben Sasse said Trump was “delighted” when rioters stormed the Capitol, and was surprised others didn’t share his perspective.
“[As events were] unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as… rioters [pushed] against Capitol police, trying to get into the building,” Sasse said.
“That was happening. He was delighted.”
Trump initially praised his supporters at the Capitol but, in a complete u-turn, later condemned their violence in a video.
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The decision to call for calm came at the urging of senior aides, some arguing he could face removal from office or legal liability, sources told Reuters.
California representative Ted Lieu, who has drafted the Article of Impeachment, said: “We have videos of the speech where (Trump) incites the mob.
“We have videos of the mob violently attacking the Capitol. This isn’t a close call.”
When could impeachment happen?
In a letter to colleagues on Sunday, Pelosi urged Mike Pence to invoke the never-used 25th Amendment of the US Constitution, which allows the vice president and the Cabinet to remove a president deemed unfit to do the job.
On Monday, House leaders will work to swiftly pass legislation to enable a vote on Tuesday. It is highly unlikely Republicans will vote for the 25th Amendment, in which case Democrats will proceed with impeachment proceedings.
Lieu has said he will introduce the Article of Impeachment in the House of Representatives on Monday. A vote on that could be possible by Wednesday — exactly one week before Democrat Joe Biden becomes president at noon on January 20.
The House is Democrat-controlled so it is likely to pass. When this occurs, Trump will have been impeached for a second time.
No president in US history has been impeached twice.
From the House, the Article of Impeachment moves to the Republican-controlled Senate where Trump will face a trial, with senators acting as jurors who would ultimately vote on whether to acquit or convict Trump.
Last time this happened, the Senate cleared Trump over allegations that he threatened US national security, but this time around, the outcome isn’t quite as certain.
And neither Republicans nor Democrats are keen to have a Senate trial straight away, as it would likely hamstring Biden’s first weeks in office and overshadow his agenda.
Democrats want to condemn the president’s actions swiftly but delay an impeachment trial for 100 days.
What are Republicans saying?
A small but growing number of Republican politicians have joined calls for Trump to step down, and several high-ranking administration officials have resigned in protest, Reuters reports.
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said on Friday that Trump should resign immediately and suggested she would consider leaving the party if Republicans cannot part from him.
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania told Fox News on Saturday that Trump had “committed impeachable offences” but declined to commit to voting to remove him.
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a frequent Trump critic, told CBS News he would “definitely consider” impeachment because the president “disregarded his oath of office”.
But other key Trump allies, including Senator Lindsey Graham and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, have urged Democrats to shelve any impeachment effort in the name of unity.
What has Trump said?
No idea. Since being banned from Twitter, Trump himself has not commented on developments in real-time, and has so far not responded to these developments in any official statement from the White House.
However Trump spokesman Judd Deere, said on Saturday: “Impeaching president Donald Trump with 12 days remaining in his presidency would only serve to further divide the country.”
