Pelosi rejects idea of dropping Trump impeachment to 'unify' country

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
(Image credit: Screenshot/CBS News on Twitter)

Congress' new Democratic majority is ready to press forward with impeachment charges against former President Donald Trump.

Last week, a bipartisan House majority voted to impeach Trump for inciting insurrection at the Capitol earlier this month. Trump has since left office with the inauguration of President Biden, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday she doesn't believe that's any reason to drop Trump's charges.

Pelosi said she wasn't convinced by arguments that an impeachment trial could further stoke partisan division. "I don't think it's very unifying to say, 'Oh, let's just forget it and move on.' That's not how you unify," she explained. Pelosi then said it's Congress' "responsibility" to "protect and defend the Constitution," because you can't just "say to a president, 'Do whatever you want in the last months of your administration.'"

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Pelosi wouldn't give a specific timeframe for when the House impeachment managers would bring the articles to the Senate. Initially there was a delay because the Senate went on a recess, but it returned Tuesday and has since sworn in three new Democratic senators.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.