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Is Donald Trump facing impeachment?
SENIOR politicians in the US have called for Donald Trump to be removed from office over his role in inciting the riot at Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
Congress has been considering impeachment for the second time, with Democratic leaders calling for immediate action if Vice President Mike Pence refuses to take steps to remove Trump from power.
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Is Donald Trump facing impeachment?
Democrats in Congress appear to be moving closer towards impeachment following the unrest on Wednesday.
Shortly after the events at Capitol Hill unfolded, Represenative Ilhan Omar announced that she had drafted articles of impeachment against Trump - a move which received the support of dozens of other lawmakers.
Writing on Twitter on January 7, Omar said: "We will impeach! Most likely tomorrow."
Omar, a rep from Minnesota, added: "Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the .
"We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer - who is set to be the Senate Majority Leader after Democrats won both of Georgia's Senate seats in Tuesday's special election - have called for immediate impeachment if Pence fails to invoke the 25th amendment to remove the President from office.
In a statement on Thursday evening, they said: “The president’s dangerous and seditious acts necessitate his immediate removal from office."
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Schumer added: "The quickest and most effective way—it can be done today—to remove this president from office would be for the Vice President to immediately invoke the 25th amendment.
"If the Vice President and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president."
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez added to the growing swell of voices, writing on Twitter: "If the 25th amendment is not invoked today, Congress must reconvene immediately for impeachment and removal proceedings."
However, with less than two weeks left in Trump’s term, it's not clear whether there is enough time to complete the impeachment process.
What is Trump being accused of?
Trump has been widely accused of inciting his supporters to riot and causing the chaos at the Capitol on Wednesday, January 7.
The current President has been condemned for appearing to rile his MAGA supporters at a rally on Wednesday, January 7 just moments before they stormed the Capitol.
Hundreds of pro-Trump rioters in Washington D.C as Congress convened on to ratify Joe Biden's victory as the next president of the US.
Four people were killed during the violent siege - one woman was shot by police and another three people suffered fatal "medical emergencies" related to the failed coup.
Following the night of chaos, on Thursday Pelosi condemned the President, calling him "a very dangerous person who should not continue in office."
She added: "A complete tool of Putin, this president is.
"Putin wants to undermine democracy ... and the president gave him the biggest -- of all of his many gifts to Putin -- the biggest gift yesterday."
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Schumer added: "What happened at the U.S. Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president."
In a televised address, Pelosi added that Trump had "incited an armed insurrection against America".
What is the impeachment process?
Impeachment is the process by which a sitting US President can be removed from office by Congress over serious wrongdoing.
All it requires is for charges to be brought against a holder of public office, with proceedings unfolding in the form of a trial similar to a civil court, before a simple majority vote in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress.
More than 50% of Congressmen must vote to impeach the President before the case is tried by the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress.
The Senate requires a two-thirds majority for the case to pass.
Has Trump faced impeachment before?
, has already been
The House brought two charges against him in December 2019, with the trial beginning on January 16, 2020.
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Trump was acquitted in February after the two-thirds majority needed for the case to pass wasn't reached in the Senate.
He was only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for for high crimes and misdemeanours.
No president has ever been removed by the Senate.
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