SPOKANE, Wash. — After an unprecedented riot at the U.S. Capitol, measures that have never been taken against a sitting President are unfolding just nine days before Donald Trump leaves office.
Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit and other websites have banned the president from using their platforms to prevent incitement of another riot.
"None of us have seen this before. This is completely uncharted territory", said Eastern Washington University History professor Larry Cebula.
This week, members of the House of Representatives plan to vote on whether or not to impeach the president for his role in the capitol riot.
President Trump faces a charge of incitement of insurrection. The House is also urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment, which is when members of the president's own cabinet remove him from power.
"Certainly no President has been impeached twice. That'll always be a part of Trump's historical record," Cebula said. "But then no president has ever led an insurrection against the government before."
If President Trump is successfully impeached by both the house and the senate, it would bar him from running for reelection in 2024.
"I think there's a general fear that's driving the process. Does that mean it's going to work, we'll see," Cebula said.
Regardless of what happens over the next few days, historians will be talking about the events of the past few weeks for years to come
"I think to a lot of historians, the most stunning scene for us in the last few days was that one man walking with a confederate flag through the capitol," Cebula said. "Something that Robert E. Lee was never able to accomplish."