After late-night debates that lasted 14 hours, the House Judiciary Committee passed two articles of impeachment yesterday. Unsurprisingly the vote 27-17 fell along party lines. This sets up a vote in in the House of Representatives next week.
The two charges being debated next week are Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress. These charges both relate to the President withholding military aid to Ukraine until the country launched an investigation into Hunter Biden. That act constitutes the abuse of power charge. The Obstruction of Congress charge stems from President Trump refusing to cooperate with Congress in this investigation.
Impeachment proceedings are long, as they should be. After President Johnson was impeached after four days future Congresses realized that this option should not be taken lightly. I don’t expect a final floor vote before the end of next week, but more likely Christmas. The House of Representatives can choose to only pass one Article of Impeachment or both. After this vote, if the House does, in fact, impeach the President, the Senate will be in control of the trial and ultimate fate of the Trump Presidency.
