House vote on impeachment

For only the third time in the history of the modern presidency, the US House of Representatives voted on Thursday to formalize impeachment proceedings against the president of the United States.

  Guardian

I might have worded that differently. The word "only" seems misplaced. Three instances in my lifetime seems like a lot.  Especially when you consider that only one president before then incurred a successful House vote to formalize proceedings against him, and that was in 1867.  (Also, by my count, it's four: technically, hearings were held about the Iran-Contra scandal, and Reagan should have been impeached.*)

In a largely party-line vote of 232-196, the House embarked on a path that seemed likely to lead to Donald Trump’s impeachment – if not necessarily his removal from office. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, presided over the vote.

[...]

Republicans held ranks to vote uniformly against the process, while two Democrats crossed party lines to join them.

Reps. Collin Peterson (Minn.) and Jefferson Van Drew (N.J.), who both represent districts won by Trump in 2016, which is not an excuse any more than Republicans condoning Trump's crimes and behavior.

The vote set rules for the public phase of the inquiry, laying out a road map for impeachment that could produce dramatic televised public hearings within two weeks and a vote on impeachment itself by the end of the year.

[...]

As the vote was announced, Trump tweeted: “The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!”

That's what he said about the Mueller investigation.

When Pelosi banged the gavel, Republicans shouted “objection”, briefly sowing confusion as the clerk strained to be heard and Democrats countered with calls for order. The room eventually settled and the House returned to the rest of its agenda before leaving Washington for a week-long recess.

Moments after the vote, Republicans began their assault on Democrats in “swing” districts who supported the resolution, sending emails to supporters that accused the Democrats by name of participating in a “fraud”. With only two Democratic defections, that list includes members critical to the party’s majority.

[...]

The procedure allows for Republicans to request witnesses and documents and provides for the presence of lawyers representing Trump at judiciary committee proceedings.

Before that stage, however, public hearings would play out before the intelligence committee, chaired by Schiff of California, who has been spearheading the impeachment inquiry.

Schiff would call witnesses who previously testified in closed-door depositions before investigators, with an eye on presenting to the public the strongest case against Trump. Many Americans who have not been following the twists and turns of the closed-door testimony would be hearing the allegations against Trump – and meeting the witnesses, who include senior officials in the White House, state department and Pentagon – for the first time.

If they haven't been following the closed-door testimony, they may not follow the public hearings.

Anyway, here's House minority leader Kevin McCarthy:

*Regarding Reagan:

The Iran-Contra Affairs involved concerted efforts by the executive branch to work around the restrictions and intent of Congress. “The Enterprise” was a kind of privatization of foreign policy, conducted in secret and without the balance of powers envisioned by the constitution. These transgressions were seen by many as far worse than anything that happened in Watergate. Chairman Hamilton used his closing remarks to address the significance of the rule of law and the dangers of subverting democratic processes in the name of patriotism. Given the gravity of the matter, why wasn't President Reagan impeached? Why was there so little serious discussion of impeachment?

One reason is that the President Reagan was very popular. It is difficult, if not impossible, to impeach a popular president. A second reason is that the impeachment of President Nixon was still too fresh in the memory of the American people. There was no political will to endure another impeachment proceeding so soon after Watergate. A third reason is that there was insufficient proof about “what President Reagan knew and when he knew it.”

  Brown University

To an increasing degree, impeachment has become a tool of contemporary American public policy. Since 1973, for example, at least 30 impeachment resolutions against sitting presidents have been introduced in Congress. Given his well-documented participation in the coverup of the Watergate scandal, President Richard Nixon was the subject of 17 impeachment resolutions. Five have been introduced already against President Donald Trump, three were introduced against President George W. Bush, and President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush were the subject of two resolutions each. Only one impeachment resolution was introduced against President Bill Clinton.

  FreedomWorks

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.