After the events that occurred in the Capitol last Wednesday, Jan. 6, Democratic lawmakers began calling for a second impeachment of President Donald J. Trump. Yesterday, only a week after the capitol building was besieged, their cries became a reality. Trump has now been impeached for a second time, making him the first United States president to have been impeached twice. He is charged with one count of inciting an insurrection.

Many Republicans have expressed concern over the precedent of impeaching multiple times, especially without having any witnesses called or investigations. One even pointed out that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has overseen half of the impeachments in U.S. history, (2019 Trump impeachment, 2021 Trump impeachment).

The other popular talking point on the right was the need for unification in our country. Republicans have pointed out that President Trump’s term will be up in six days from now. They said that we need to unify our nation and not tear it apart further.

Pleas from Democrats are gaining support with their opposition. Ten Republicans in the House voted for the article of impeachment. During the 2019 impeachment, no Republicans voted in favor. Many Republicans believe that Trump has destroyed their party, and that he is why they lost crucial senate seats, giving Democrats control of the Senate. They see this as an opportunity to distance themselves from the President and his staunchest supporters.

The House Democrats who spoke said generally the same thing. They said that the President had incited his supporters to, quoting the President, “march on the capital” and “fight like hell” or they wouldn’t have a country anymore. The consensus among the left was that this was an act that needed to be punished or else we would risk losing our democracy with at least one of them quoting Benjamin Franklin’s famous statement that the founders had created a republic “if you can keep it.” They called on Republicans to fulfill the oaths they took when being sworn in to defend the constitution against enemies “both foreign and domestic.”

The final tabulation totaled 232 votes for impeachment and 197 against. Now it will move on to the Senate to see if they will receive the two-thirds vote necessary for removal from office. This would require at least 17 Republicans to vote alongside the Democrats. Even if Trump’s term expires, the Senate could still vote, and a conviction could come along with a majority vote to ban him from serving in public office again.

We are in dark times right now. No matter who you think is to blame for that, I think we can all agree that it’s true. All we can do is hope that our leaders make the right decisions for our country and allow our nation to heal.