Trump Impeachment Inquiry Moves Forward After House Vote
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slams gavel as House votes to pass resolution on impeachment proceedings. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/AP)
By Aaron Kershaw
A House of Representatives clearly divided by party lines held a historic vote to affirm the existing impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, Thursday morning.
The lines cut sharper on the political right, as not a single Republican voted "yes" to move forward with the inquiry.
The inquiries affirmation vote was favored 232 to 196 in the House of Representatives led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic majority.
Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) are the only Democrats to vote "no" on impeachment.
Their skepticism comes as no surprise as they represent purple voting districts, leaving themselves susceptible to primaries by other moderate Democrats if they vote against the President.
This House resolution is to open the curtain on the impeachment process, as Democrats look to make their case to the American people that Trump should be removed from office.
The premise is that the public dissemination of facts will expose Trump's alleged impeachable behavior and shift public sentiment towards impeaching the President.
Republicans, who initially criticized the inquiry launched in late-September due to concerns of a lack of transparency, today voted against a resolution created to lessen those concerns which now appears to have been pseudo-political outrage.
““Frankly if they tried to change something and give a little bit of due process, we’re all going to vote against this”.
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Jim Jordan (R-OH), who previously called the probe "unfair and partisan" changed his tune on Fox News earlier this week saying, "Frankly if they tried to change something and give a little bit of due process, we're all going to vote against this".
If this process leads to an impeachment vote in the House, what follows is an impeachment trial in the Senate, where Republicans hold the majority.
It is yet to be determined whether the upcoming public hearings gain impeachment support in the Senate, but as of today, it appears the votes to remove President Trump are yet to be accumulated.
