The House of Representatives is expected to meet Jan. 13 to vote on the second impeachment of President Donald Trump, this time on the grounds of incitement of insurrection. While the move may seem unnecessary due to the short amount of time left in his term, it must be done.

In just the past two weeks, America has seen the absolute worst of this president and his desperate grab to win an election he has already lost. Unlike those before him, not only has he delayed the transition of power, but he has attempted multiple times to interfere with the results of the election and the democratic processes set in place by the Constitution.

The Articles of Impeachment, written by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), lay out two actions of the president that justify his removal from office: calling the Secretary of State of Georgia with the intent of changing the results of the election Jan. 2 and inciting violence in the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6. Both are horrifying examples of the sheer disregard and disrespect for democracy that Trump has brought with him to the presidency. 

In his phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the president is heard requesting that Raffensperger “finds” enough votes from Georgia — a state that Trump lost by 11,779 votes — to put him over so that the state flips back in his favor. According to a transcription of the call by the New York Times, the president directly said, “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.” It is clear in this instance, Trump is attempting to directly interfere with the results of the election he lost, showing plainly unconstitutional behavior and disregard for the same voting process that won him the presidency in 2016. 

As if the phone call wasn’t enough, just days later, Trump held a “Stop the Steal” rally Jan. 6, a gathering of Trump loyalists who refused to accept the results of the election. Aside from pushing conspiracy theories, the president plainly and openly encouraged the violence that would occur in the U.S. Capitol later that day while Congress gathered to certify his loss. According to a transcription of the president’s speech by ABC News, he said, “If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore,” seemingly fueling the attacks that would take place just hours later. America watched, horrified, as self-proclaimed patriots raided Capitol Hill in the name of the president, desecrating both the House and Senate chambers as well as the offices of many congresspeople. According to the New York Times, among the atrocities that were committed, five people, including one Capitol police officer, died at the hands of the riot the president caused, undeniably staining his hands with their blood. 

It is clear from these actions that impeachment is the right move at this time and a move that might be less controversial than made out to be. According to Politico, there is bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress for the president’s impeachment. Republicans advocating for the president’s impeachment include House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Support from both parties clearly shows that not only has Trump harmed his party, he has harmed his country. 

Some may say that impeachment at this point in Trump’s term is unnecessary, considering the process will most likely continue after the president’s term has ended. However, moving forward with impeachment and removal will not only discipline the president for his actions, but will prevent him from causing more harm than he already has. Impeaching and removing Trump will take away the many privileges he would have as a former president, such as a Secret Service detail, an expensive travel budget and, most importantly, the ability to run for federal office ever again. Taking away these privileges will serve as permanent reminders to Trump of his failure to lead in a time of crisis, failure to uphold our nation’s democratic ideals and failure to stand by his oath of office to ‘protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.’