Breaking point

‘WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?’ JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, A REPUBLICAN CONGRESSWOMAN FROM WASHINGTON STATE, DEMANDED OF HER COLLEAGUES AS THEY CONSIDERED THE SECOND IMPEACHMENT OF DONALD TRUMP. “I’m not afraid of losing my job,” Herrera Beutler said. “But I am afraid that my country will fail.”

There is more than fear swirling around the GOP these days. For years, Republicans stood by their President, muttering their doubts in private. They pretzeled themselves to defend his shifting whims, reframed his outrages as silly showmanship and rejected his first impeachment as partisan overreach. Absolute loyalty was what their voters demanded; any sign of deviation was swiftly punished.

But in the dramatic final weeks of his term, Trump finally pushed his party to its breaking point—first demanding it reject truth and the democratic process by overturning the election he lost, then siccing his mob on the seat of government, with deadly results. Finally, on Jan. 13, 10 of the 211 House Republicans broke ranks and voted to impeach him for inciting an insurrection.

Trump may be done with Washington, but Washington—and particularly his adopted party—is not done with him. How the Senate will dispense with the first-ever postpresidential impeachment is an open question. Numerous Republican Senators have expressed openness to convicting Trump and potentially barring him from future office. That number includes