NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Congress has voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, just a week after he encouraged a group of his supporters to "fight like hell" against the election results before they swarmed the US Capitol in a deadly riot.
The House vote on an article of impeachment for “incitement of insurrection” went down party lines in Louisiana, earning one yes vote and four nos from Louisiana congressmen.
Steve Scalise - 1st District
Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Minority Whip, voted against impeachment saying it would only further divide the nation.
"Emotions are still high. But in this moment, we need to be focused on toning down the rhetoric and helping heal this nation as we move toward a peaceful transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden next week," Scalise said.
Scalise has been one of President Donald Trump's biggest supporters since the President was elected in 2016. Recently, Scalise voted against certifying president-elect Joe Biden's victory in the House and supported several lawsuits to try and overturn the election, despite there being no evidence of widespread election fraud.
Cedric Richmond - 2nd District
Louisiana's lone democratic representative, Cedric Richmond, voted to impeach the president a second time.
During his speech, Richmond said some of his colleagues may have been "co-conspirators" with the President and called on them to defend the constitution against all enemies "including Donald J. Trump."
“In the first impeachment, Republicans said we didn’t need to impeach him because he learned his lesson,” Richmond said. “Well, we said if we didn’t remove him, he’d do it again. Simply put: We told you so.”
Richmond is leaving congress to join president-elect Joe Biden's administration. His seat will be filled in a special election in March.
Clay Higgins - 3rd District
Rep. Clay Higgins voted against impeachment, saying that it would only further divide the country after last week's riot at the US Capitol.
“I do NOT support the removal of President Trump through impeachment nor the dubious ploy to invoke the 25th Amendment. These are acts of political vengeance and only serve to further divide our country.”
Mike Johnson - 4th District
Rep. Mike Johnson voted against impeachment, saying that it would not help heal or unify the country.
“As President Trump himself has acknowledged, Joe Biden is the President-elect, and what America needs right now is an orderly and peaceful transfer of the immense power of the presidency from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration," Johnson said. "Launching impeachment articles at this point is not in the best interests of the nation.”
While President Trump has acknowledged Biden's victory occasionally, he still claims the election was stolen and that he would have won if not for massive fraud which he has no proof of.
5th District
Louisiana's 5th District congressional seat is currently empty after the death of Luke Letlow.
Letlow died at the age of 41 due to COVID-19 after being elected in December to replace Ralph Abraham.
Letlow's seat will be filled during a special election in March.
Garret Graves - 6th District
Rep. Garret Graves voted against impeachment.
After last week's riot at the US Capitol, Graves said that President Trump's comments to an angry mob of supporters were ridiculous, but said it would be a mistake to remove him from office.
"To send this nation through the divisiveness, all it does is it further ramps up exactly what led to the violence that we saw,” Graves said last Friday.
Graves said it would be better for the country if the President effectively resigns.
“What I mean by that is that effectively he will not be out there talking, speaking, wielding the full authority and the power of the White House, maybe even technically finding a way to hand over the keys to Vice President Mike Pence," Graves said.
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