Donald Trump became the third President of the United States to be impeached. Members of the House of Representatives voted for impeachment on both charges against him.
The first president to be impeached was Andrew Johnson back in 1868, The Guardian reported. It would take 130 years before the next president, Bill Clinton, was impeached in 1998. Meanwhile, the gap between Clinton and Trump’s impeachment is shorter at just 21 years.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened the debate by saying that the threat to democracy sadly comes from the White House. “For centuries Americans have fought and died to defend democracy for the people, but very sadly now our founder's vision of a republic is under threat from actions from the White House,” Pelosi said as reported by BBC.
She also emphasized the need for action and that it was Trump who forced the House to go the impeachment route. “If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty,” Pelosi added. “It is tragic that the president's reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice.”
Meanwhile, Republican Doug Collins, questioned the impeachment’s fairness arguing that it was based on presumption. “This is an impeachment based on presumption,” Collins said. “This is a poll-tested impeachment about what actually sells to the American people.”
Members of the House of Representatives later voted on the two charges of impeachment against Trump. On the charge of abuse of power, 230 voted for impeachment while only 197 were against it. On the charge of obstruction of Congress, 229 voted for impeachment while only 198 voted against it. Thus, Donald Trump was impeached for both charges.
At the time of the House’s debate, Trump was at a rally in Michigan. In his speech, he voiced his thoughts on what seems to be his critics’ impulsive need to impeach him.
“The Democrats are declaring their deep hatred and disdain for the American voter,” Trump said in the rally. “They've been trying to impeach me from day one. They've been trying to impeach me from before I ran.”
While the House already impeached Trump, he is still the President. The ball then goes to the Senate’s court, which starts early next year.
However, political analysts are already predicting that nothing will likely come out when Senate tackles the issue. “What comes next is a trial in the Senate early next year that could, but probably won't, cost him the White House,” CNN analysts Zachary B. Wolf and Paul LeBlanc wrote.