2nd Trump Impeachment: How Alabama's House Delegation Voted

WASHINGTON, DC — All but one of the U.S. representatives from Alabama voted against impeaching 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. Terri Sewell (D-AL) was the only Alabama representative to vote in favor, while all of the Republican representatives voted against.

"I strongly condemn the attack on the Capitol last week. There is no excuse for it, and I hope everyone who took any part will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) said Wednesday. "But I do not believe an impeachment is beneficial to our country at this difficult moment. In short, this move will only encourage deeper division and bitterness on all sides at a time when we desperately need to unify."

Here’s how the Alabama delegation voted on the impeachment:

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL): No

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL): No

Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL): No

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL): No

Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL): No

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL): No

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL): Yes

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

"While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate," McConnell said Wednesday.

• 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. His staff said McConnell will defer to New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, who will become the new majority leader, to manage the process.

• 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 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.

The Alabama State Legislature is not in session and the state Capitol in Montgomery is still closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, and therefore will be empty in the days leading up to Biden's inauguration.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency issued a statement Monday saying that the agency continues to monitor activity for "public safety concerns and possible threats related to the ongoing protests across the nation."

The ALEA also said it respects First Amendment rights of protesters, adding, "ALEA safeguards these First Amendment rights, and reports only those activities where the potential use of rhetoric and/or propaganda could be used to carry out acts of violence."

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