In a history-making vote that will force President Donald Trump to stand trial in the Senate in the new year, the House of Representatives on Wednesday night impeached him on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection with his Ukraine scandal.
Trump, who has adamantly denied wrongdoing despite testimony otherwise, is only the third president in United States history to be impeached.
By a vote of 230 to 197 (and one present vote), the House’s Democratic majority overcame Republican resistance in the minority for the abuse of power charge. And by a vote of 229 to 198 (with one present vote), the House voted for the obstruction of Congress charge.
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Trump will now be tried in the Republican-controlled Senate and a conviction, which would require the votes of nearly two dozen Republican senators, is far from certain. Many conservative lawmakers have said they are reluctant to proceed with a case against Trump, contending his impeachment amounts to a revenge scheme by liberals following the 2016 election.
Earlier Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said impeachment was the House’s constitutional obligation after Trump allegedly pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.
“Today, as speaker of the House, I solemnly and sadly open the debate on the impeachment of the president of the United States,” she said. “If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty. It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice.”
As has become habit, Trump live-tweeted Wednesday’s proceedings in the House. This week, the White House also released an open letter from the president blasting impeachment.
The Senate trial is expected in early January.
Reports last week indicated that Republicans there were hoping to quickly acquit the president and move on.
A U.S. president has never been removed from office via impeachment. Both Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached, but were later acquitted in the Senate. President Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached and face trial over the Watergate scandal.
Investigators say President Trump withheld some $400 million in military aid from Ukraine while he pushed Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to dig into former Vice President Joe Biden and Biden’s family as well as probe a conspiracy theory about the 2016 election.
Vice President Biden is the leading candidate to challenge Trump in 2020.
