In a historic decision on Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump. He is the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.
The House voted on two articles of impeachment, drafted by the House Judiciary Committee last week, which charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. For abuse of power, the House voted 230-197; for obstruction of Congress, the House voted 229-198.
“I view this day, this vote, as something we did to honor the vision of our founders to establish a republic, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to defend our democracy, and the aspirations of our children that they will always live in a democracy, and that we have done everything we can to make sure that that is their reality,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday evening.
The votes conclude a months-long impeachment inquiry process into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, which sought to determine whether he solicited foreign power for his own political gain. And as the inquiry unfolded, the White House’s refusal to cooperate and attempts to block witnesses from testifying led the House Judiciary Committee to also conclude that Trump had obstructed Congress.
“Taken together, the articles charge that President Trump has placed his personal, political interests above our national security, our free and fair elections, and our system of checks and balances. He has engaged in a pattern of misconduct that will continue if left unchecked. Accordingly, President Trump should be impeached and removed from office,” the Judiciary Committee’s 658-page report said.
“Today, we took action to hold President Trump accountable for the serious and undisputed risk he poses to our free and fair elections, and to the separation of powers that safeguards our liberty,” Jerry Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said after Trump’s impeachment. “A president must not be allowed to become a dictator.”
The matter now moves on to the Senate for a trial and vote, which will determine whether Trump is ultimately removed from office. John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, will preside over the trial.
“We have done our duty here in the House. We have upheld the Constitution, we have done as the framers would have us do when a president abuses his office and obstructs a co-equal branch of government,” Adam Schiff, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said. “The question now is, will the Senate uphold its duty?”
In a statement released after the vote, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said, “Today marks the culmination in the House of one of the most shameful political episodes in the history of our nation.”
“The President is confident the Senate will restore regular order, fairness, and due process, all of which were ignored in the House proceedings,” she added. “He is prepared for the next steps and confident that he will be fully exonerated.”
And earlier on Wednesday before his impeachment, Trump tweeted multiple times to claim he did not do anything wrong and accused Democrats, in all-caps, of conducting “AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!”
SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2019