US President Impeached On Two Charges - Abuse of Power, Obstruction of Congress, Faces Senate Test Wednesday Dec 18,2019

Donald Trump (45th President of USA)became the 3rd president in American history to be impeached on Wednesday Dec 18,2019 on a largely party line vote, setting up a formal trial next year in the Senate

The impeachment vote capped off a three month investigation into the president's actions in regard to the Ukraine. The vote came at the end of a day long partisan debate on the House floor with Republicans charging Democrats with wanting to over turn the last presidential election and Democrats arguing the president tried to use a foreign power to help him win re-election

'A great day for the constitution of the United States,' Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after the votes concluded

‘I could not be prouder or more inspired by the moral courage of House Democrats. We never asked one of them how they are going to vote. We never whipped this vote. We saw the vote -- well, you saw the public statements that some of them made, we saw the result when everyone else did,’ she said

‘The statements on the floor about patriotism and about being very true to the vision of our founders. And so I view this day, this vote as something that we did to honor the vision of our founders, to establish a republic, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to defend our democracy and that republic and the aspirations of our children, that they will always live in a democracy,’ she added

The House held two separate votes - one on each article of impeachment

The vote on the first article of impeachment - abuse of power - was 230 to 197

The vote on the second article - obstruction of Congress - was 229 to 198

For the first vote there were two Democratic defections:  Colin Peterson of Minnesota, who said he would be a no vote, and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey who is reported to be switching to the Republican Party

For the vote on the second article, those two were joined in the dissenting column by Maine Democrat Jared Golden, who said he would vote for the first article but not the second

Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard did not support the impeachment of US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, defying party line. Tulsi Gabbard was the only member of Congress who voted "present" on both the articles of impeachment against Mr Trump - a move that was met with sharp criticism on social media

All but two Democrats voted "yes" for impeachment, while all Republicans voted against it

The impeachment inquiry now moves to the Senate, where Trump will go on trial

It will be presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it will begin in January after senators return from their holiday break

He and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer are set to meet this week to determine the process the Senate trial, including its precise start date, how long it will last and whether additional witnesses will be called.  

Note

Neither of the two previous presidents impeached - Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998, was convicted in the Senate, and both held onto their jobs

The last time the House took such a step - impeaching Democratic President Bill Clinton for lying under oath on December 19, 1998 after he failed to come clean about an affair he was having with a former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.