House approves impeachment, could delay trial

WASHINGTON—On Wednesday night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, making him the third president in history to face a Senate trial. The votes fell mainly along party lines, following an hourslong debate.

Who broke ranks with their party? On the first article accusing Trump of abusing his power, two Democrats, Reps. Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, crossed the aisle to vote with their Republican colleagues. The vote passed 230-197. On the second article, obstruction of Congress, a third Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, also voted no, making the vote 229-198. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, voted “present” on both articles.

Were there any surprises? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., added a twist into the proceedings after the vote by saying she would wait to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate. She said the House may hold the articles of impeachment until she feels reassured the Senate will conduct a fair trial. “So far, we have not seen anything that looks fair to us,” she said. Instead of voting on a resolution to send the articles over to the Senate, as was done right after the 1998 vote to impeach President Bill Clinton, Pelosi’s move injects more uncertainty into the process. The Senate expected to begin a trial in early January.

Meanwhile, Trump spoke the same evening at a campaign rally in Battle Creek, Mich. He lambasted the impeachment proceedings as a “hoax” and told the crowd that the senators will “do the right thing.”

Dig deeper: Read more about negotiations—and the tensions—between Republican and Democratic lawmakers over how the Senate trial should go.