4 Ways President Trump’s 2nd Impeachment Will Change Washington

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., displays the signed article of impeachment against President Donald Trump in an engrossment ceremony before transmission to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill. It’s unclear when a Senate trial will start





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A Marine Corps soldier guards the West Wing of the White House on Wednesday.





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Republican Rep. John Katko, who voted in favor of impeachment, walks back to the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.





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Members of the U.S. National Guard from Delaware in the Capitol Rotunda Wednesday.





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Members of the U.S. National Guard from Delaware in the Capitol Rotunda Wednesday.


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The new security measures will likely remain for some time. Although members praised law enforcement, and there are amazing stories of those who fought off the mob, the serious security failures have many lawmakers questioning the leadership of the force, and an inevitable lengthy investigation could turn up far more disturbing information about what happened.

But the lawmakers themselves have changed, too. Several Democrats accused GOP lawmakers during the impeachment debate of being «co-conspirators and «accomplices in the attack —a serious charge, but they did not provide evidence. It was already difficult for lawmakers to develop relationships across the aisle, with many members no longer moving the families to Washington. Members rarely socialized with members of another party. The level of trust has really changed in the last week. Some Democrats are already pledging not to work with Republicans who voted in favor of challenging the election results.

The swift series of events have given members little time to process how to return to legislative business. Three big events in three weeks — an insurrection on the day Congress met for what is usually a ceremonial task of counting electoral votes, followed by a lightening fast impeachment and an inauguration that will be scaled back to the health crisis made the opening days of the new Congress historic in multiple ways.