Consider This from NPR - House Votes To Impeach, All Eyes On McConnell Amid Concerns About More Violence

Episode Date: January 13, 2021

House Democrats — joined by 10 Republicans — voted to impeach President Trump on Wednesday. Now the process moves to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he hasn't made a final decision — and that he'll listen to the legal arguments presented in the Senate. GOP strategist Scott Jennings, who is familiar with McConnell's thinking, spoke to NPR about why that might be. No matter what McConnell does, Trump will not be president by this time next week. But between now and then, there are growing concerns about more violence in Washington, D.C., and in cities around the country, as NPR's Greg Allen has reported.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Impeachment or not, Donald Trump will no longer be president this time next week. The clerk will report the resolution. House Resolution 24 resolved that Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. On Wednesday, the article of impeachment was read on the House floor, opening two hours of debate. And then came the vote. Have all members voted?

Does any member wish to change a vote? The final vote to impeach the president was bipartisan. Ten Republicans joined Democrats in voting to make Donald Trump the only president ever impeached twice. On this vote, the ayes are 232. The nays are 197. The resolution is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. Next, the process moves to the Republican-controlled Senate, which is required to hold a trial. On Wednesday afternoon, reports emerged that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will not support calls by Democrats to reconvene the Senate early for that trial.

That means they'll be back as scheduled on January 19th, and the impeachment process will unfold during Joe Biden's first weeks in office. I think there's a lot of misconceptions about what happened within the Capitol, and it's going to come into laser focus, I think, over the next weeks and days. And I think people are going to be shocked with some of the egregious contact that happened within the Capitol. Meanwhile, the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., Michael Sherwin, told reporters Tuesday that the American public does not yet have a complete picture of what happened on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol. He said, sure, there's the guy with his feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk, the guy on the House floor carrying zip ties, and those stories have gotten a lot of play on social media. But what the public isn't familiar with is that

the FBI working with the U.S. attorney's offices across the country and the crux of those being in D.C., we're looking at significant felony cases tied to sedition and conspiracy. Seditious conspiracy is a charge that involves a coordinated plan to overthrow the government by force. Right now, there's growing concern that next week more of the president's supporters could try to do it again. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Adi Cornish. It's Wednesday, January 13th. With civil unrest, the pandemic, and the economic crisis,

you want to know what's happening right when you wake up. And that's why there is Up First, the news you need in about 10 minutes from NPR News. Listen every day. This message comes from NPR sponsor Driftwell. Sip into relaxation with Driftwell, an enhanced still water beverage with magnesium, a hint of blackberry lavender flavor, and L-theanine. Designed to help you relax and unwind, Driftwell is a new way to cap off your day. It's Consider This from NPR. In less than a week, Joe Biden will be inaugurated as President of the United States. And between now and then, the FBI and Secret Service have warned that groups may be organizing for violence around the country and here in Washington,

D.C. Inauguration Day itself is a big concern. You're going to see the perimeter set up. You're going to see an increased presence of law enforcement officials. You're going to see around the clock, real-time analysis of every intelligence stream that they can get their hands on. Mike White is the former head of the U.S. Secret Service's Presidential Protective Division. He worked the last four presidential inaugurations. He told NPR this week that Capitol Police may have been caught flat-footed on January 6, but he predicts the multiple federal agencies charged with securing inauguration will be ready. You're going to see increased covert surveillance that takes place, social media platforms that are monitored much more closely. I know I was very involved in the

09 inauguration for President Obama, and things like bridges into the city were closed. I would imagine those types of plans are being looked at and considered. The extra security in D.C. mirrors plans in many state capitals around the country. Local law enforcement agencies are on high alert after an FBI memo warning of possible violent protests at all 50 state capitals. In Georgia, SWAT teams were on hand as the legislature opened its session. Around the building, they're erecting a permanent eight-foot security fence. And Georgia State Patrol is stationed around the Gold Dome. It's the same story in Texas. The new legislative session begins tomorrow and there is

enhanced security here at the Capitol building in Austin. The National Guard is on standby in California. In Michigan you can no longer openly carry a gun into the Capitol building. And back here inC. Our goals right now are to encourage Americans to participate virtually. Mayor Muriel Bowser is asking people not to attend next week's inauguration. She's also asking the Trump administration not to issue any permits for public gatherings between now and then. Are you scared? Am I scared? If I'm scared of anything, it's for our democracy, because we have very extreme factions in that country that are armed and dangerous. Many of the streets around the National Mall in D.C. have already been closed to traffic.

Airbnb is canceling and refunding existing reservations in the metro area next week and not allowing any new ones to be booked. President Trump released a short statement on Wednesday, calling for, quote, no violence, no lawbreaking, and no vandalism, and saying, quote, that is not what I stand for and it is not what America stands for. I call on all Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers.

Trump still has not conceded the election. So back to Mitch McConnell. A striking report from the New York Times this week said he's pleased that the House moved to impeach the president because he thinks it will make it easier for the GOP to leave the Trump era behind. That was on Tuesday. On Wednesday, McConnell sent a letter to Senate colleagues saying he hasn't made a final decision and that he'd listen to the legal arguments presented in the Senate. Either way,

his judgment could be pivotal. If McConnell votes to remove the president, it may open the door for other Republicans to do the same. So for some insight into Mitch McConnell's thinking, NPR reached out to a Republican strategist who's worked with him for a long time. Scott Jennings spoke to NPR's Mary Louise Kelly. Why might Mitch McConnell now be on board with impeachment? Well, his statement this afternoon made clear that he hadn't decided what to do. But I think generally speaking, if you just look at the facts of what's happened over the last few weeks and certainly the last few days, a reasonable person could come to the conclusion that if this is not impeachable,

then what is? How much of this is politics? Because we know that Senator McConnell has always got his eyes focused on the politics. This could help the party, presumably, if Trump, who has proven toxic, is out of the way, the GOP could move forward. Well, I certainly think politicians make decisions based on some politics. But I also think in this moment, if I know Senator McConnell and I do, he'd probably say something like there know what he's going to do yet, but he went to the floor last week and directly said that the vote to confirm the Electoral College was the most important vote he had cast in 36 years. And he's seen a lot of things and issues come and go. So the gravity of that statement, I think, today means more than ever. No, I mean, I want to underscore it does look as though the majority of Republicans in the House

are going to vote against impeachment. But I wonder, is want to underscore it does look as though the majority of Republicans in the House are going to vote against impeachment. But I wonder, is another possible factor here that this is personal for Senator McConnell and for other lawmakers in a way that it was not with impeachment round one? Congress was physically attacked last week. The U.S. Senate chamber was vandalized. Well, yes. I mean, it must be personal. They were attacked. Their staff was

barricading themselves behind closed doors using furniture to keep the mob out. I mean, I think we were, you know, just a few other different decisions on which way to turn in the Capitol away from members of Congress encountering very, very violent people. It could have been far worse, and it was already horrific as it stands. But I also think that Leader McConnell and other members of Congress take their duties under the Constitution very seriously. And the president tried to prevent the Congress from performing its constitutional duties, and he directly tried to prevent the vice president of the United States from doing that as well. So I think there's a, you know, the Capitol was physically attacked, but also the Constitution

was attacked because the Congress had a job to do and the president tried to stop them from doing it. He says, as you noted, that he has not made up his mind. But if Senator McConnell were to back impeachment, how big a game changer would that be? Well, I mean, he's one of the most credible voices in our party, and he has obviously been a leader in the party for a very long time, and he was one of the chief implementers of President Trump's agenda. So I think it'd be a rather seismic decision if he decided to go in that direction. Although you need a two-thirds majority of senators present to convict, do you see signs that enough other Republican senators might break rank? I don't know. I think it would be close. But I also think that the Senate's different than the House in that a lot of the people in the Senate aren't in cycle every two years. These House members are on the ballot functionally

all the time, but that's not true for the senators. So big picture, how do you think this ends? Whatever might happen with a Senate trial, does President Trump disappear off into the sunset? What happens to the GOP? I don't think so. But I do think that the Republican Party has to wrestle with the limits of Trumpism. Even setting aside the events of last Wednesday, the last several elections have shown the limits of Trump's electoral strength. And you throw what happened last Wednesday on top of it, and now those limits are even lower. So I would say the party needs to do some soul-searching about what it needs and has to be in order to be a functionally successful party at the national level.

Republican strategist Scott Jennings. Other reporting in this episode on heightened security at state capitals around the country came from NPR's Greg Allen. You're listening to Consider This from NPR. I'm Adi Cornish.