2nd Trump Impeachment: How Rep Dwight Evans Voted

PHILADELPHIA — One of Philadelphia's congressional representative voted to impeach President Donald Trump on a charge that he incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week. The House voted 232-197 in favor, making Trump the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.

The historic House vote took place a week after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a siege that resulted in five deaths — including the beating death of a Capitol Police officer, multiple arrests and a sprawling FBI investigation. The impeachment comes a week before President-elect Joe Biden is to be inaugurated in a city on high alert amid ongoing threats of violence.

Rep. Dwight Evans (D-3rd District) cast a vote in favor of impeaching the president for a second time.

"I was one of the earliest congressional supporters of impeaching Trump because he keeps demonstrating he is unfit for office," Evans said in a statement following the vote. "I was one of just 58 House members to vote for impeachment in 2018. I did not come to Congress with impeachment in mind, but no one can be above the rule of law in America. His incitement of a violent riot that led to the deaths of six people demonstrates that he is a threat to America and must be removed from power now."

Here’s how Pennsylvania's delegation voted on the impeachment:

• Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican, 1st District: No.
• Brendan Boyle, Democrat, 2nd District: Yes.
• Dwight Evans, Democrat, 3rd District: Yes.
• Madeline Dean, Democrat, 4th District: Yes.
• Mary Gay Scanlon, Democrat, 5th District: Yes.
• Chrissy Houlahan, Democrat, 6th District: Yes.
• Susan Wild, Democrat, 7th District: Yes.
• Matt Cartwright, Democrat, 8th District: Yes.
• Dan Meuser, Republican, 9th District: No.
• Scott Perry, Republican, 10th District: No.
• Lloyd Smucker, Republican, 11th District: No.
• Fred Keller, Republican, 12th District: No.
• John Joyce, Republican, 13th District: No.
• Guy Reschenthaler, Republican, 14th District: No.
• Glenn Thompson, Republican, 15th District: No.
• Mike Kelly, Republican, 16th District: No.
• Conor Lamb, Democrat, 17th District: Yes.
• Mike Doyle, Democrat, 18th District: Yes.

What's Next: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will not allow the Senate to vote to convict Trump — which would have been an extraordinary turn by a Republican leader who has defended and protected Trump during the four years of his tumultuous presidency.

• If an impeachment trial is allowed in the Senate, it will be after Biden is inaugurated, McConnell said Wednesday. McConnell has reportedly said he believes Trump committed impeachable offenses, and that moving forward with a vote would make it easier for Republicans to purge Trumpism from their party, but he won’t reconvene the Senate ahead of Biden’s inauguration.

• Biden has suggested the Senate could “bifurcate” — that is spend half of the day confirming his Cabinet nominees and the other half on impeachment matters.

• Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking member of the House Republican leadership, is among more than two dozen Republicans who signaled they would break from their party and vote to impeach Trump.

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

Trial In The Senate: Two-thirds of the chamber would have to vote to convict Trump. The Senate exonerated Trump last year on charges of abuse of power and contempt of Congress after special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, but the charge against Trump this time is more clear-cut.

Under the Constitution, the Senate could prevent him from holding federal office again and strip him of other perks afforded to former presidents.

As lawmakers debated the need for and grave potential consequence of impeaching Trump for a second time, the FBI warned of armed protests in the days ahead of Biden’s inauguration. Statehouses in all 50 states, Pennsylvania included, have been targeted for protests. The agency is also monitoring chatter on an encrypted messaging platform about plans by Trump extremists to form perimeters around the Capitol, the White House and the Supreme Court building as Biden takes the oath of office.

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