House Democrats voted to impeach President Donald Trump Wednesday, making Trump the third president in American history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
U.S. House of Representatives
The House passed article one of H.R. 755, which charges President Trump with abusing the office of the presidency.
Article one passed on mostly partisan lines, 230-197, with most Republicans against the resolution. Two Democrats, Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ) against the resolution.
Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI), a former Republican, voted in favor of article one of impeachment.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who is running for the Democratic nomination for president, voted present for article one of impeachment. She also voted present on the resolution establishing the rules surrounding the impeachment bill.
Republicans and Democrats sparred over impeachment since early Wednesday morning.
House Democrats blocked House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) privileged motion to condemn House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) for exceeding their powers.
Rep. Peterson voted with Republicans to prevent Democrats from blocking a floor vote on the legislation.
Reps. Van Drew and Peterson voted with Republicans against a bill that would establish the rules regarding the House floor debate on the articles of impeachment against Trump.
After the Democrats moved to establish six hours of debate on impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) compared the Democrats’ efforts to remove the president from office to the World War II Battle of the Bulge.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-GA) said during a speech Wednesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants more witnesses because he does not have all of the facts.
U.S. House of Representatives
House Financial Services Committee chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) tweeted Wednesday that Democrats had “laid out the facts” and s charged that they are “on the correct side of history.”
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) also shouted at Rep. Nadler after the New York Democrat accused him of echoing Russian “propaganda.”
The Texas conservative responded sarcastically:
You said it was about this terrible Russia collusion. When that fell through, it was about emoluments, it’s about bribery, it’s about extortion. It’s changed, but one thing hasn’t changed and that’s the intent to impeach this president. It’s always been there.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said, “Democrats have been triggered into impeaching the President – because they don’t like him, and they don’t like us.”
The simple truth:@Repmattgaetz: “Democrats have been TRIGGERED into impeaching the President – because they don’t like him, and they don’t like us.” pic.twitter.com/jn3lzDwcQy
— Mark Bednar (@MarkBednar) December 18, 2019
Rep. Al Green (D-TX), who has been a leading figure on impeachment, used a picture of a migrant girl crying at the southern border during his speech. However, despite the Democrats’ claim, the migrant girl was not suffering because she was separated from her parents.
U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) said that the impeachment is a “total Schiff show!”
This impeachment is ripping our country in half. It’s fatally flawed on the process, the substance, the intentions, and the consequences. It’s a total Schiff Show! pic.twitter.com/YsvOJ9QlD5
— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) December 19, 2019
House Republican Leader McCarthy delivered a scathing rebuke of the Democrats’ push to impeach President Trump and undermine the 2020 presidential election. He said that Democrats have done little to improve Americans’ lives during this congressional term.
“Donald J. Trump is President of the United States. He is President today. He will be President tomorrow. And he will be President when this impeachment is over,” the California conservative said. “When they accept that, maybe this House can get back to work for the American people.”
Rep. McCarthy said:
Donald J. Trump is President of the United States. He is President today. He will be President tomorrow. And he will be President when this impeachment is over. When they accept that, maybe this House can get back to work for the American people.
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Because they lost to him [Trump] in 2016, they’ll do anything to stop him in 2020.
That’s not America. That’s not how democratic republics behave. Elections matter. Voters matter. And in eleven months the people’s voice will be heard again.Impeachment is the most consequential decision Congress can make other than sending our men and women into war. Yet 85 days ago Speaker Pelosi chose to impeach the President of the United States. She wrote the script and created an artificial timeline to make the details fit. Why else are we doing this hours before Christmas?
If that’s all this was — a rush to judgment — she could be forgiven. But, before the Speaker saw one word, one shred of evidence, she moved to impeach.
In the past, such a step demanded a vote — from all of us — from the start. But not only did she move to impeach before she gave this House — and the hundreds of millions of people we represent — a say in whether to pursue an impeachment inquiry, she threw out the bipartisan standards and institutional precedents this House gave Presidents Nixon and Clinton.
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Moreover, politicizing this process has discredited the United States House of Representatives and could forever weaken the remedy of impeachment.
To again quote Professor Turley, it is the Democrats’ rush to impeachment on these grounds, with unfair procedures, that is an ‘abuse of power.’
Madame Speaker — as I said at the beginning, we face a choice: Do you trust the wisdom of the people or do you deny them a say in their government?
Fortunately, the people will have the opportunity to speak up and render their verdict in 11 short months. To my fellow Americans — If you approve of the way this House has conducted its business — if you want to see your tax dollars go towards endless investigations — support impeachment.
But if you want to restore a working Congress — like the previous Congress that listened to you and worked to bring the best economy this country has ever seen and will once again work with the President to get things done for you and your family — then join Republicans in rejecting this baseless impeachment. That’s what’s wonderful about this system of ours: we are a government of, by, and for the people.
Now that the House passed articles of impeachment, the Senate will convene an impeachment trial to determine if the president should be removed from office.
Although many establishment media outlets have speculated if Senate Republicans will vote to convict President Trump, Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) said that as many as three Senate Democrats could vote to acquit the president.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said during a floor speech Tuesday that he will move to dismiss the impeachment trial.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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