WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — In a largely procedural 232-196 vote, the US House voted to move forward with the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
All but 2 Democrats voted in favor while all Republicans voted against it. One former Republican, now an Independent, voted to move forward.
The resolution makes the impeachment inquiry official and sets up rules under which both parties will operate. Until now, Trump and the GOP called the inquiry a “sham” because the House hadn’t taken a vote and because testimony happened behind closed doors.
This vote addresses both of those issues.
“What is at stake,” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, “is our democracy.”
Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said this resolution “sets the stage for the next step of our investigation, one in which the American people will have the opportunity to hear from the witnesses first hand.”
Republicans, like California Congressman Devin Nunes, still object.
“It’s clear that since the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, they have always intended to transform the Intelligence Committee into the Impeachment Committee,” Nunes said.
Trump took to Twitter and caled the impeachment inquiry a “hoax” and said it is hurting the stock market.
Once the impeachment inquiry is completed, the matter will head from the House Intelligence Committee to the House Judiciary Committee.
That committee will decide if the US House will file and vote on articles of impeachment against President Trump.
