On the morning of Friday, December 13, the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve the impeachment articles against President Donald Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. This action followed a controversial debate that lasted three days and a decision on Thursday evening to delay the final vote.
The impeachment proceedings have brought partisan tensions to light. Democrats think Trump should be removed from office because he leveraged a White House meeting and military aid, which was sought by Ukraine to combat Russian aggression, in order to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into launching an investigation of Joe and Hunter Biden. Republicans, however, think the Democratic argument is leading to a politically motivated impeachment, rather than one that proves that the President concretely committed a wrongdoing -- led alone a crime. After the Committee vote, even President Trump asserted that Democrats are “trivializing impeachment.” He said that “[the impeachment inquiry] is a scam, it’s something that shouldn’t be allowed and it’s a very bad thing for our country.”
So, what comes next? What is in store for President Trump, for the federal government, and for Americans around the country? For starters, the impeachment articles will go to the House of Representatives for a vote next week. As a result, it is possible that President Trump will join the short list of two presidents -- Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton -- who have been impeached in United States history. If President Trump does get impeached, then it will go to the Senate, which will determine whether President Trump did in fact commit a crime.
At this point in time, it is impossible to foresee how this issue will end. On one hand, the Republican Party seems to have no cracks. The party’s politicians have thus far remained united. But will some people begin to poke their heads out and turn on their party? It’s a question no one can answer. On the other hand, Democratic politicians are confident that their party, too, will stick together. That being said, no one can be certain; the most important days have yet to come.
Furthermore, while unlikely, it is also possible that there might be different votes on the two impeachment articles. Such a case occurred leading up to the 1998 impeachment of Bill Clinton, when four articles were passed by the House Judiciary but different votes resulted for all of them. In fact, two of the articles failed to pass the Democrat-led Congress.
When it comes to this turbulent, controversial topic, only one thing is certain: Trump’s impeachment inquiry is far from over. If both sides persist and hold up their respective stances, it is highly possible that the long and laborious impeachment process will continue well into 2020.
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