President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A majority of members of the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump on a single count of inciting an insurrection.
The historic vote, which included 10 Republicans voting in favour with a handful of votes still outstanding, makes Trump the first president in American history to be impeached a second time.
It may also be the swiftest such proceeding in the history of Congress, coming just one week after a horde of angry Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill.
Several Republicans, including third-ranking House Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, voted with their Democratic counterparts in favour of impeachment.
They did so inside a Capitol complex that's been transformed into a heavily guarded fortress, surrounded by unscalable fencing and thousands of armed National Guard troops.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he won't reconvene the Senate, which means Trump's trial will have to wait until after president-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated next week.