U.S. Democrats and Republicans clash over Trump’s impeachment steps

Following the voting of the House to impeach U.S. President Donald Trump, the Democratic Party and Republican Party have faced a bitter standoff. The Republicans are hurrying the procedures to get Trump acquitted swiftly, while the Democrats are delaying a move for initiating the Senate trial, with their strategies in mind ahead of the presidential election next year.

The Washington Post said Friday (local time) that “Congress was paralyzed Thursday over President Trump’s impeachment as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delayed acting to initiate the Senate trial.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that the Democrats had crossed “the Rubicon,” while Sen. Lindsey Graham also criticized the Democratic Party that “Not allowing the Senate to act on approved Articles of Impeachment becomes Constitutional extortion.”

According to a poll by Reuters on Wednesday and Thursday, 42 percent of the respondents said that they approve of the impeachment of Trump while 46 percent disapproved. Even at the time when the articles of impeachment against former President Bill Clinton were passed at the House, the Republican Party which had led the impeachment inquiry suffered a defeat in the following election. In fact, the three major U.S. stock indexes in New York logged an all-time high on Thursday, signaling the minimal impact of Trump’s impeachment on the financial markets. CNBC said that “Markets are shrugging off the impeachment of President Donald Trump.”


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