Most Missouri and Illinois lawmakers in the U.S. House split along partisan lines on whether to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection last Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.
It鈥檚 a move that Missouri鈥檚 two Democrats contended was an appropriate response to Trump鈥檚 actions, while Republicans from Illinois and Missouri said it was unnecessary because the GOP chief executive is leaving office next week anyway.
The only Republican exception was Rep. Adam Kinzinger of northern Illinois who voted for impeachment. He has been an outspoken critic of Trump.
The House voted 232-197 Wednesday to impeach Trump, a historic decision. No president has ever been impeached twice.
Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis County, said that if 鈥渨e fail to remove a white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it鈥檚 communities like Missouri鈥檚 1st District that suffer the most.鈥�
鈥淭he 117th Congress must understand that we have a mandate to legislate in defense of Black lives,鈥� Bush said. 鈥淭he first step in that process is to root out white supremacy, starting with impeaching the white supremacist-in-chief.鈥�
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, said that Trump鈥檚 role in provoking the violence at the Capitol was so egregious, it warranted courage from his colleagues.
鈥淚t would be an error to assume that men and women can be courageous every day,鈥� Cleaver said. 鈥淚t would be unfair to anticipate that I or any member of this body could be a lion every day. But on this day, lions are required.鈥�
Republicans reject impeachment
Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, a Taylorville Republican who voted to uphold President-elect Joe Biden鈥檚 Electoral College victory, pushed instead for a commission that would investigate the attack on the Capitol last week.
鈥淩epublicans and Democrats need to work together,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淲e must be united to prevent any attacks from happening in the future. And we must protect this institution not just for us, for the American people.鈥�
Metro East Republican Reps. Mike Bost and Mary Miller also voted against impeachment.
Missouri Rep. Jason Smith echoed many of his GOP colleagues when he said that impeachment was a divisive and unnecessary step when Biden is going to be sworn into office next week.
鈥淭his is a reckless impeachment,鈥� said Smith, R-Salem. 鈥淭his will only bring up the hate and fire more than ever before.鈥�
And Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, said in a statement that 鈥渘on-binding resolutions demanding the inappropriate use of the 25th Amendment and rushed impeachment proceedings before law enforcement and intelligence agencies can even complete investigations are the exact opposite of what our country needs and deserves.鈥�
Rep. Sam Graves, a Tarkio Republican who represents northeast Missouri, said: 鈥淧olitically motivated impeachment only further divides a country in need of healing. We shouldn鈥檛 be wasting millions of tax dollars on a last-minute snap impeachment that won鈥檛 even be finished before President Trump leaves office."
Wagner votes 鈥榥o鈥�
In some respects, the only real question mark on Wednesday was whether Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, was going to vote for impeachment 鈥� especially since, unlike some of her Missouri Republican colleagues, she voted to uphold Biden鈥檚 victory and condemned Trump for inciting the violent attack on the Capitol.
Wagner voted against impeachment. In a statement, she said, 鈥淧resident Trump鈥檚 statements during and in the immediate aftermath of last week鈥檚 assault on democracy were antithetical to the leadership our nation desperately needed in a time of crisis.鈥�
But she said she supported censure, rather than impeachment, adding impeachment 鈥渟hould only be taken after the appropriate investigations and a complete airing of the facts so our vote can be fully informed.鈥�
鈥淎merica needs strong leadership right now,鈥� Wagner said. 鈥淲ith so little time left this term, specifically with regard to the Senate impeachment process, I fully agree with President-elect Joe Biden when he stated the 鈥榪uickest way鈥� for the president to be out of office will be to wait for January 20th when the president-elect is sworn in.鈥�
Wagner went on to say that while censure would have passed both chambers of Congress, 鈥渦nfortunately Speaker Pelosi has chosen further divisive actions that stand no chance of being implemented and do nothing to hold the president accountable.鈥�
鈥淥ur nation needs to heal and come together, not retreat further into partisan corners,鈥� Wagner said.
Whether Trump gets kicked out of office before Biden is sworn in is up to the Senate. Removal doesn鈥檛 seem likely, especially since the Senate won鈥檛 be in session again until Jan. 19 鈥� the day before Biden takes the oath of office.
At least two-thirds of the Senate needs to vote in favor of removing Trump from office in order to briefly make Vice President Mike Pence president.
Correction: An earlier version of this story omitted Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger voting for impeachment.
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