VOA慢速英语--美国国会大厦骚乱后特朗普遭弹劾

The House of Representatives impeached² President Donald Trump³ Wednesday for "incitement⁴ of insurrection" against the United States.

Trump is now the only American president to be impeached two times. Two other presidents also were impeached and found not guilty of charges. Trump received the same ruling last year in his 2019 impeachment⁵.

The impeachment comes just seven days before Trump leaves office. President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn-in as president on January 20.

The House voted 232 to 197 for impeachment.

The vote came a week after thousands of Trump supporters carried out a deadly attack and occupation of the U.S. Capitol Building. The Congress was meeting at the time to officially declare Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Lawmakers and others fled and hid, among them Vice⁶ President Mike Pence. Five people died as a result of the violence.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened the impeachment debate. The Democrat⁷ said, "We know that the President of the United States incited⁸ this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country. He must go, he is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."

Pelosi added that Trump has "repeatedly lied" about the results of the presidential election. Trump, she said, raised "doubt about democracy."

Republican House member Jim Jordan of Ohio led a defense⁹ for the president. He said, "In seven days there will be a peaceful transfer of power just like there has been every other time in our country, but Democrats¹⁰ are going to impeach¹ President Trump again. This doesn't unite the country."

House minority leader, Republican Kevin McCarthy voted against impeachment, but he said, "The President bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack."

Representative Liz Cheney, a powerful Republican lawmaker, and nine other Republicans joined Democrats in voting for impeachment.

Cheney said in a statement before the vote, "There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution."

Dan Newhouse of Washington state is another Republican lawmaker who voted for impeachment. He said of the president, "Last week, there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol, and he did nothing to stop it." Newhouse said, "I will vote yes..." to applause from some in the House.

Trump was charged with abuse of power and obstruction¹¹ of Congress in his first impeachment. At the time, only Democratic lawmakers voted to impeach. The next month, the Republican-controlled Senate cleared Trump of all charges.

This second impeachment will now go to the Senate for trial.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the outgoing majority leader, said the trial will not start until after January 19. He said it would be best "if Congress and the executive branch spend the next seven days completely focused" on a safe and orderly transfer of power to the incoming Biden Administration.

McConnell was fiercely opposed to Trump's first impeachment. He has expressed no opposition¹² to this one. He told members of the Republican Party that he is undecided about how he might vote in the trial. Several other Republican senators have expressed similar openness.

With Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to become presiding officer and tie-breaking vote, Democrats will control the Senate on January 20 for the historic second impeachment trial against Trump.

Words in This Story

insurrection - n. a usually violent attempt to take control of a government

doubt - n. a feeling of being unsure about something

transfer - n. a process of moving something to another

bear - v. to accept

oath - n. a formal and serious promise to do something

applause - n. show of approval by striking hands together

focus - v. to direct your attention to something

1 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

2 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 incitement   

激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物

参考例句：

• incitement to racial hatred 种族仇恨的挑起
• Interest is an incitement to study. 兴趣刺激学习。

5 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。