The House Judiciary Committee in a 23 to 17 vote on Friday morning to approve both articles of impeachment introduced against President Donald Trump. No Republicans voted in favor of either article. Every Democrat on the committee, minus U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., who was ill, voted to impeach.
The first article cites President Donald Trump for an abuse of power in requesting that the government of Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and potential Ukrainian interference in the 2016 presidential election allegedly in exchange for a White House visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the release of $391 million in military aid. The second article accuses the president of obstructing Congress due to instructing officials in his administration not to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry.
The articles of impeachment will now go to the full House of Representatives for a vote that is expected as early as Wednesday next week where they are widely expected to pass. If that happens President Trump will be just the third president to be impeached joining Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
The Senate then will hold a trial, presumably in January, to determine whether to remove the president from office. Considering removal requires a 2/3 majority vote by the Senate and not a single Republican has indicated support for the impeachment proceeding it is highly unlikely they will do that.
Read the impeachment articles below:
