Democrats introduced an article of impeachment on Monday and said they would move ahead with plans to remove Donald Trump from office.
The House is set for an impeachment vote by the on Wednesday, January 13.
If successful, Donald Trump would become the first president to be impeached twice.
It will be difficult for both chambers to vote to remove Trump from office before Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20. Instead, Donald Trump could face a Senate trial after his term ends, and be barred from holding office again.
READ MORE: Trump impeachment vote: Live updates as House moves to impeach Donald Trump
Thus far, alternative methods being considered by the Democrats to put pressure on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office, have been unsuccessful.
What time is the Trump impeachment vote?
The exact time of the vote is not yet known, however, at 9 a.m. EST on Wednesday the House will meet to begin consideration of the article of impeachment on the House floor. This is 2pm UK time.
There'll be an hour of debate on the rule of the session, split between the two parties. Then, lawmakers will vote on the rule.
There will then be two hours of debate on the impeachment article itself.
The final vote on impeachment will last about around an hour. It is likely to begin between 8-9pm.
Around 4:15 pm there will be a vote on the rule itself followed by a debate at 5:30pm.
Between 8pm-9pm the House will vote on whether or not to impeach President Trump for a second time, with the result expected after 9pm.
READ MORE: Donald Trump impeachment: How does impeachment work and could it remove Donald Trump from office?
What is impeachment?
Impeachment is the process which allows Congress to put presidents on trial, however, it is a political process rather than a criminal trial.
Articles of impeachment are charges brought against a president by the House of Representatives. If the House votes to pass them, proceedings move to the Senate, which decides whether or not to convict.
Mr Trump was the third US president to have been impeached, with Richard Nixon famously resigning before he could be impeached.
What Republicans could back the vote to impeach Trump?
Democrats are expected to back the motion to impeach Trump. A few Republicans could also vote to impeach the 45th president with reports suggesting that Liz Cheney could back the motion. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois and Peter Meijer could also back the motion having spoken about his decision to CNN.
If the House impeaches Trump does the Senate start to debate it immediately?
This is all relative. The Senate only starts their trial of impeachment when the official paperwork is forwarded to the Senate. So if the speaker opts to delay transmission of the paperwork, the decision to impeach Donald Trump could be delayed.
Could Donald Trump be barred from running for President again?
There have been suggestions that Biden’s presidency will be 100 days old before the decision is put to the Senate. This could be crucial as Democrats do not yet control the chamber, however, once the elections of Georgia Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are certified the chamber will be tied.
This could allow Kamala Harris, as Senate president, to break ties in the Democrats’ favor. This could pose its own issues however.
There is the constitutional question of whether it is possible to hold an impeachment trial for a president who is no longer in office. This could be the factor that decides that an impeached president can no longer run for office.
In order to impeach a president, the Senate would need to carry a two-thirds vote and remove him from office. 18 Republican senators in total would be needed to convict him, however, Republicans will likely not back the motion given that by the time of the vote, Trump will have left office.
CNN reports that as many as 10 Republicans could be set to break ranks and vote for impeachment.
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