House votes to impeach

Tracking the vote

House votes to impeach

Democrats and 10 Republicans voted to impeach President Donald Trump

With two vacant House seats, the resolution needs 217 votes to pass.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump, making him the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. The Senate’s Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, rejected Democratic calls to reconvene the Senate for an immediate trial, all but ensuring Trump will not be ousted before his term ends on Jan. 20.

The vote came one week after a pro-Trump mob swarmed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly attack shortly after the Republican president delivered an incendiary speech to thousands of supporters and repeated false claims that the election was stolen from him by widespread voting fraud. The mob interrupted the formal certification of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the Nov. 3 election.

The resolution to impeach passed 231 to 197 — the largest number of votes for any presidential impeachment — and drew the most bipartisan support. In a break from standard procedure, Republican House leaders refrained from urging their members to vote against impeachment, calling the vote a matter of individual conscience. Ten Republican lawmakers broke with their party by voting to impeach. Here are a few of the notable defections:

Rep. John KatkoN.Y. 24

“To allow the President of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy.”

Rep. Liz CheneyWyo.

“The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

Rep. Adam KinzingerIll. 16

“There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection.”

Rep. Fred UptonMich. 6

“I would have preferred a bipartisan, formal censure rather than a drawn-out impeachment process. I fear this will now interfere with important legislative business and a new Biden Administration. But it is time to say: Enough is enough.”

Rep. Jaime Herrera BeutlerWash. 3

“Hours went by before the President did anything meaningful to stop the attack. Instead, he and his lawyer were busy making calls to senators who were still in lockdown, seeking their support to further delay the Electoral College certification.”

Rep. Dan NewhouseWash. 4

“This is a pivotal and solemn moment in our country’s history. I wholeheartedly believe our nation - and the system of government it was founded upon - may well be in jeopardy if we do not rise to this occasion. This is not a decision I take lightly.”

Democrats
Republicans
Source:

Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives

Edited by:

Tiffany Wu