Less than two days after impeaching him, Pelosi invites Trump to deliver State of the Union

Less than 48 hours after she gaveled in the votes making him the third president to be impeached in United States history, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Donald Trump to deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Feb. 4. [View in browser]( [Image]( DECEMBER 20, 2019 Former U.S. attorney and MSNBC contributor Joyce Vance is guest editor for the MSNBC Daily this week. She is currently a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law. Scroll down for Joyce's take on the news of the day and her Most Important Reads. Joyce also answers a question from one of our readers. [Image] [Image] Doug Mills/The New York Times Today's headlines: - Less than 48 hours after she gaveled in the votes making him the third president to be impeached in United States history, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Donald Trump to deliver his [State of the Union](address before a joint session of Congress on Feb. 4. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said Friday that Trump accepted the invitation. Trump's address would be the day after the Iowa caucuses, the first voting for the candidates seeking to challenge him for his job — and it could come during his still-to-be-scheduled impeachment trial. - Christianity Today, a prominent evangelical Christian magazine, [called for Trump's removal]( from office a day after he was impeached by the House, saying that Trump's actions were "not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral." Trump, in turn, [lashed out on Twitter](, calling the evangelical magazine "far left" and saying the publication "knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President." IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: VIDEOS [Image]( [Trump admin. demanded Dems strip Ukraine aid protection from spending bill]( Jeremy Bash reacts to reporting from The Washington Post that the Trump administration threatened a veto and government shutdown over language protecting future aid to Ukraine in a spending bill. (11th Hour) [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Image]( [Russia working social media to manipulate American voters (again)]( Rachel Maddow looks at the strategy behind Russian-backed social media operations that build vast follower audiences with clickbait content and then slowly introduce pro-Russian, anti-American, or other political content to their feeds. (Rachel Maddow) [Facebook]( [Twitter]( MORE VIDEOS - Impeached Trump grabs a military photo-op before his holiday vacation ([11th Hour]() - Michael Moore: GOP ‘dying dinosaurs,’ impeach them ([Last Word]() - Trump trial nightmare? WH aides have legal duty to testify ([The Baat]() - Barbara Boxer: Pelosi ‘shining a spotlight’ on McConnell not promising fair impeachment trial ([Hardball]() - The decade that was: A look at some of what's happened in the country since 2010 ([MTP Daily]() - Trump raises ‘smocking’ age to 21, and Ted Cruz is not happy ([All In]() QUOTE OF THE DAY [“The danger of an untruthful president is compounded when the co-equal branch follows that president off the cliff... If there ever was a time to put country over party, it is now."]( — Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake ([video]() JOYCE'S TAKE Thursday, the Senate confirmed President Trump's 187th judge. As the House debated impeachment, Senator Mitch McConnell set a fast pace that had the Senate voting on a judicial nominee approximately every two hours. By the end of the day, 13 new federal judges had been confirmed to lifetime appointments. Trump has transformed the judiciary, appointing more than 20% of currently serving judges. That includes 50 appellate judges in 3 years. President Obama confirmed only 55 in 8 years because of McConnell's exceptional obstruction of his appointees. Many of Trump’s appointments were for seats McConnell held open during Obama’s second term, hoping to have just this opportunity. While hundreds of House bills sit on McConnell's desk awaiting action, he's shortened the time for Senate consideration of judicial nominees, setting up an assembly line that bypasses meaningful review. Senators rubber stamp Trump's nominees, a record number of whom have been rated "unqualified" by the ABA - some have never tried a case or have drawn criticism over a lack of judicial demeanor. A new trend is for nominees to decline to agree that Brown v. Board of Education, the case that ended school segregation, was correctly decided. Three of the judges confirmed yesterday followed this path. What that means for the future is unclear, although there has been some suggestion that this approach might make it easier to reverse longstanding precedent, low Roe v. Wade. Trump's takeover of the courts is an underreported story that will have a lasting effect on our rights. JOYCE'S MOST IMPORTANT READS What I've been reading: - Scientists continue to warn that climate change is upon us, most recently saying that the Amazon has reached a tipping point. ([Washington Post]() - On the heels of last night’s Democratic primary debate, Jason Johnson is out with Week 21 of the 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings,[the Star Wars edition.]( - Leaked audio from a Wisconsin meeting has a top Trump advisor discussing a[more aggressive Republican strategy](in 2020 stating that the GOP “traditionally” relies on voter suppression to compete in competitive states. - Khary Penebaker lost his Mom to suicide when he was still a baby. He writes about the connection between guns and suicide and the personal cost to affected families. ([Milkwaukee Journal Sentinel]() - EPA, with its actions subject to less scrutiny in the wake of other Trump administration scandals, is letting mining interests take over a specially protected area in Alaska. Scientists say this could [devastate the most important wild salmon habitat in the world.]( - Kentucky’s former Governor, Republican Matt Bevin, issued 428 pardons during his last few weeks in office including one that’s getting a lot of attention today – the [pardon of a child rapist](. Bevin justified the pardon because the child’s hymen was intact, saying there was “zero evidence” to support conviction. Scientists have debunked the notion that this kind of inspection can prove a sexual assault did not occur. - This provocative piece asks whether anti-Semitism in the U.S. is [turning violent](. - Stephen Miller, a protégé of former AG Jeff Sessions before he went to work in the White House, is still influencing the administration’s immigration policy. Chief among his policies: using[migrant children as bait]( to get information that can be used to deport their adult relatives. - On a more uplifting note, I had no idea when I started this Twitter thread that so many people would share their holiday recipes. It’s full of some really amazing people and inspiration. [I want to bake all the things.]( YOU ASKED, WE ANSWERED From Arlyn Stevens: Let’s say President Trump is impeached and removed from office. How can he run again for President from which he was impeached and removed? Joyce: Article I, Section 3, Clause 7 of the Constitution is very specific. It limits the Senate to two options when a public official is impeached by the House, removal and/or disqualification from holding future office. So, the answer to your question is, it’s up to the Senate. They can choose to simply remove him or they can opt for removal with a prohibition from holding any future elected office. The only way President Trump could run for reelection after impeachment would be if the Senate declined to bar him from holding office again. Either way, despite Trump’s Twitter and campaign rally hints that he could seek a 3rd term in office, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution limits him to two. Please tell us what you think of the news. [Drop us an e-mail!](mailto:msnbc.digital.editors@nbcuni.com?subject=MSNBC Daily) Check out [our YouTube feature](, "The Day That Was," a review of MSNBC's primetime coverage. Were you forwarded this email from a friend? [Subscribe here](. 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