Melania Trump: FLOTUS mocked as 'Donald's walking stick' as President struggles

DONALD TRUMP is the latest politician to be caught in a constitutional firestorm, as House Democrats have announced they will initiate impeachment proceedings on the US President. Will the Democrats be able to impeach Mr Trump before the 2020 elections?

 

House of Representatives leader Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday the Democrats would initiate formal impeachment proceedings into US President Donald Trump. The leading Democrat has faced calls to initiate proceedings for months from her peers and has chosen the recent Ukraine controversy as a backdrop for the inquiry. Democrats allege a whistleblower report shows Mr Trump pressured Ukrainian officials for information about 2020 Democrat candidate Joe Biden while delaying military aid. The President has since denied any wrongdoing and has agreed to release the whistleblower complaint to congress.

Donald Trump is vying for a second term in office next year, as presidential elections are due to take place in November.
Impeachment proceedings are likely to drag, as house Democrats have a long path in front of them, starting with the contents of the whistleblower report.
According to the House of Representatives intelligence committee, the complainant is willing to testify and could do so within the next week.

Once they testify, the contents of the report come to light, adding to a wealth of possible reasons to impeach Donald Trump.
House committees are investigating several articles with which they can impeach Donald Trump, including alleged instances of obstruction of justice, and lying to the American public.
Congress has six committees currently investigating impeachment, which are expected to continue following yesterday’s announcement.
The house judiciary committee could then draft and approve articles of impeachment, bringing them to the house floor for a vote.

However, it will likely take months before proceedings get to this stage.
Precedent offers little indication of how long this could take, as the most recent impeachment case took place against Bill Clinton.
When Congress ousted him in 1999, proceedings passed the House of Representatives in three months.
But his impeachment was the result of investigations at the hands of special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who presented his competed findings to the House judiciary committee.
In Mr Trump’s case, Democrats are yet to complete reports.

Overall, it could be months before Democrats get to cast their judgement on impeachment, and Republicans are likely to stall progress beyond the lower house.
The house flipped in the ‘blue wave’ last year, but the Senate remains predominantly Republican.
They are likely to vote against impeachment attempts, keeping Mr Trump in office.
Overall, Congress could potentially oust Mr Trump before 2020, but there are many variables which could impact how long impeachment takes.
According to Betfair Exchange, however, Donald Trump is on odds of 11/10 to be impeached in his first term.

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