After a full day of debates Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee voted on Friday to approve two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The first article, abuse of power, was approved with a vote of 23 to 17. The second article, obstruction of Congress, was also approved with a vote of 23 to 17.
The articles, which were first announced on Tuesday by House Democrats, charge the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. These charges stem from Trump’s interactions with the president of Ukraine — whom he had asked to investigate his political rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter — and his refusal to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.
During Thursday’s debate, House Republicans attempted to strike different elements of the charges from the articles of impeachment but were ultimately unsuccessful.
Trump was also following along with Thursday’s session and retweeted several House Republicans who were in support of him.
On Tuesday, before House Democrats announced the articles of impeachment, Trump wrote on Twitter, “To Impeach a President who has proven through results, including producing perhaps the strongest economy in our country’s history, to have one of the most successful presidencies ever, and most importantly, who has done NOTHING wrong, is sheer Political Madness!”
The articles of impeachment will now be presented to the full House of Representatives, which will vote on whether to impeach the president. If the House votes to impeach Trump, he will be the third president to have been impeached.