Donald Trump is now the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representative.
Democrats on Wednesday night voted for two articles — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — after eight hours of debate on the House floor, where hundreds of lawmakers traded barbs for and against impeachment.
The historic votes capped a three-month inquiry by House Democrats into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. But the impeachment process is far from over: The proceedings now move to a trial in the Senate, which holds the final authority on whether to convict Trump and remove him from office, or to acquit him.
Republicans hold a 53-47 edge in the upper chamber. Conviction and removal requires 67 votes. No Senate Republicans have signaled that they would vote to convict Trump.
After the votes to impeach Trump, House Democrats will select so-called impeachment managers to appear before the Senate during the trial and share findings from their inquiry.
House managers have historically been members of Congress, who assume the role of prosecutors in the Senate trial. For instance, 13 Republicans from the House Judiciary Committee acted as the managers in then-President Bill Clinton’s Senate trial, presenting their case for his removal over three days.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to select the impeachment managers in the coming days, The New York Times reported. On Wednesday, after the impeachment vote, Pelosi told reporters that she wanted to see how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, would lay out the trial’s rules before she sent over the articles. The delay could give Democrats some leverage in the process of setting the rules for the Senate trial.
The other two presidents to be impeached were Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln's successor, in 1868, and Bill Clinton in 1998.
