House of Representatives Votes to Impeach Trump
Written by SOURCE on December 19, 2019
Former steak salesman Donald Trump has been impeached for abuse of power.
He is now the third U.S. President to be impeached. There was Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Richard Nixon was on track to getting impeached but resigned before it could happen. The House of Representatives debated and voted on two articles of impeachment against Trump on Wednesday. The house voted “yea” on the first article and are now voting on the second article, obstruction of Congress.
Now that he’s been impeached by the House, Trump will be tried in the Senate. All 100 Senators will act as jurors. Due to Republicans having a majority, it’s unlikely that two-thirds (or 67 votes) of the Senate will vote for convicting and removing Trump from office.
The House vote comes after weeks of testimony focused on matters of Ukraine and beyond. Per a rundown from the Times earlier this month, the first article charged Trump with abuse of power in connection with his pressuring of Ukraine to help him in a re-election campaign. The second article, meanwhile, argues that Trump committed an obstruction of Congress by blocking testimony and refusing to hand over documents during the impeachment inquiry.
“This has never been about the politics,” Need to Impeach executive director Nathaly Arriola said at an impeachment-supporting protest outside the Capitol this week, per USA Today. “This has always been about the American people, and about protecting the democracy that allows us to live freely as Americans in this nation.”
On Tuesday, Trump sent a rambling six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in which he claimed the existence of something called “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and stated “more due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”
In debate-opening comments on Wednesday, Pelosi said Trump remained an “ongoing threat” to national security.
“When the President’s wrongdoing was revealed, he launched an unprecedented, indiscriminate, and categorical campaign of defiance and obstruction,” Pelosi said.
Republicans, including Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, argued on Wednesday that any impeachment efforts against Trump were part of their efforts to “influence the 2020 elections.”
Pushing back against assertions from Republican critics—namely, Rep. Chris Stewart—that attempting to impeach Trump was based on a specific “hate” for Trump, Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas said on Wednesday “I hate no woman or man.”
Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu summarized the historical importance of Wednesday’s vote, noting that the eyes of future generations were on those tasked with this decision and highlighting the fact that—regardless of the ultimate outcome—the events of the day would follow Trump around forever.
“Our children are watching,” Lieu said. “No president ever wants to be impeached. Whether Donald Trump leaves in one month, one year, or five years, this impeachment is permanent. It will follow him around for the rest of his life and the history books and people will know why we impeached.”
Meanwhile, Trump did that thing he’s particularly fond of in which he tweeted in all caps whilst conflating himself with America as a whole:
And during a speech that went down during House proceedings, Vice President Mike “Refer to Your Wife as Mother” Pence called the impeachment efforts a “disgrace.”
Anyway, fuck both of them. And ITMFA.
This story is being updated.
