House to draw up articles of impeachment

After a day of witness testimony about constitutional law, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced Thursday that Democratic lawmakers were ready to impeach President Donald Trump. “The president has engaged in abuse of power, undermining our national security and jeopardizing the integrity of our elections,” Pelosi said. Trump fired back on Twitter, saying the Democrats had “gone crazy,” but he was ready to move forward with a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.

What comes next? Lawmakers hope to have articles of impeachment ready for the Democratic-controlled House to vote on by Christmas. If they pass, a trial in the Senate would follow in January. Two previous presidents, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, went through impeachment trials, but neither was removed from office.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew about Trump’s relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which is at the heart of Democrats’ impeachment case.