A majority in the House cast ballots to impeach on one article, for abuse of power, and another vote will take place on whether he also obstructed Congress. He next faces a trial in the Senate, where he will be removed from office if 2/3 vote to convict. That seems unlikely, as it would take 20 Republicans joining with all Democrats and independents.
In the lead up to the vote starting in the 7 PM ET hour, the broadcast and cable news networks provided coverage of the final speakers speaking for and against impeachment. Fox News featured a split screen of the House proceedings as well as Trump’s rally in Battle Creek, MI.
In the six hours of debate, Democrats said that their impeachment vote was a somber moment, but that Trump left them with no choice. The impeachment’s abuse of power article charges Trump with pressuring the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate a political rival, Joe Biden, along with his son, Hunter. The article further claims that Trump withheld a White House meeting and military aid to Ukraine unless Zelensky announced the probe.
Republicans repeatedly called the impeachment effort a sham, and claimed that Democrats have been looking to impeach Trump since he took office.
By the day’s end, members got a bit more raucous. When Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) said that Democrats “don’t just hate Donald Trump,” but “they hate the 63 million Americans who voted for this president,” Democrats began to jeer. Republicans clapped as Scalise finished.
Polls show the public generally remains split on the question of impeachment — an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll on Wednesday put it at 48% to 48% — and the nature of the daylong debate reflected the polarization on Capitol Hill. Since the impeachment inquiry was announced in September, views seemed to have only hardened. “If you head a new argument, if you’ve heard a new fact, you’ve had a more interesting experience than I have had,” Fox News’ Chris Wallace said midday. “There are a lot of impassioned speeches being made, but we’ve heard it all before. The Democrats, nobody is above the law. The Republicans, you’ve wanted to impeach this man since he took the oath of office in 2017.”