On Wednesday morning, the House of Representatives began the final deliberation on whether or not to impeach President Donald Trump. After over six hours of debate, the 435 members of the house took it to a vote. The two articles of impeachment being voted on were “Abuse of Power” and “Obstruction of Congress.” This event was a long time coming, after the formal impeachment inquiry had been launched on Sept. 24. 

Out of the 435 representatives, 216 have to vote yes for the President to be impeached. For the first article presented, whether the president abused his powers, according to the New York Times, “passed 230 to 197, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi gaveling the vote to a close from the House rostrum.” Out of the 230-votes for yes, 229 of them were active members of the Democratic party and one was Independent. All 197-votes in opposition of the propositions comprised of all Republican members with two Democrats. The New York Times then said, “On the second charge, obstruction of Congress, a third Democrat joined Republicans in opposition. The vote was 229 to 198. ” Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard voted “Present” on both articles, which is a similar action to abstaining.  

These votes allowed for President Trump to be formally impeached, making him the third president in US history with this citation to his presidency. Following this, the next step is a trial conducted by the U.S. Senate that will decide whether the president is removed from office. According to BBC News, “President Trump’s Republicans control the Senate, so it is highly unlikely he will be removed from power.” 

Though unlikely, if the Senate did vote for removal from office, President Trump would be the first of the three impeached presidents not to be acquitted by a senate trial. 

The date of the trials is currently undecided, due to the fact that the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is withholding sending the articles to the Senate until fair parameters are set. 

“When we see what they have, we will know who and how many we will send over,” said Pelosi when referring to the articles and witnesses they would like to use during the trials. This is due to the ongoing debate about the allowance of witness testimony during the trials. The action of delaying sending the articles to the Senate has caused another rise in tension between the two parties.

In relation to voting, one of the two Democratic Representatives who voted no on both articles in the House, Jeff Van Drew, announced on Thursday that he would be switching to the Republican Party. CNN reported that, “Van Drew met with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and House G.O.P. Leader Kevin McCarthy at the White House on Thursday, but looked to have already made up his mind Wednesday night. He sat with Republicans before the historic vote.”

It has been a busy week in politics, leading to many uncertainties of what will happen next.