After roughly an hour of debating on the House floor, a vote was taken on a resolution filled with ground rules for the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. The final vote was 232-196 with zero Republicans voting for the resolution and only two Democratic defectors. Freshman Representative Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ) and 15-term veteran Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN) both represent GOP-leaning districts and joined the Republicans in voting against the measure.
During the debate, representatives on both sides of the aisle gave their talking points. Pelosi gave quite the performance saying “what is at stake in all this is nothing less than our democracy” while standing next to a large poster of the American Flag.
Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) accused Democrats of imposing “Soviet-style rules” next to a poster depicting the Kremlin. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) gave a moving speech defending the president saying Trump has done nothing wrong, nothing impeachable and blamed Democrats for their obsession with the impeachment proceedings “because they are scared they cannot defeat him at the ballot box.”
It may take weeks or more before the House even decides whether to vote on actually impeaching Trump. For now, Dems have in place procedures “which give them the ability to curb the president’s lawyers from calling witnesses” which they say are similar rules to the Nixon and Clinton impeachments. Republicans, however, argue the resolution allows for rules skewed against Trump.
Continue Reading: Associated Press
