US House votes to send impeachment articles to Senate for Trump’s trial

The Democratic-led House of Representatives has voted to send formal impeachment charges against US President Donald Trump to the Senate, a move that launches a trial in the upper chamber.

Lawmakers on Wednesday voted 228 to 193 to give the Senate the task of putting Trump on trial on charges of abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine for personal political gain and of obstruction of Congress for blocking testimony and documents sought by Democratic lawmakers, Reuters reported.

The vote was scheduled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after a month of speculation over timing.

The vote was largely along party lines, but Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) was the only Democrat who voted against the impeachment articles, while Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), who switched from Republican to Independent last year, voted in favor of the resolution.

The vote also approved a team of seven impeachment managers who will prosecute the case against Trump in the Senate. They were named by House Speaker Pelosi.

"We are here today to cross a very important threshold in American history," Pelosi said on the House floor before the vote.

Pelosi earlier named House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff the "lead" impeachment manager. She highlighted Schiff separately as "lead manager" in a statement issued during the announcement.

Others picked for the high-profile role of managers include Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler, Democratic Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Zoe Lofgren, Val Demings, Sylvia Garcia, and Jason Crow.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Tuesday the impeachment trial will begin next Tuesday, January 14.

He said he expected the House to send the articles of impeachment through to the upper chamber on Wednesday.

A two-thirds majority vote would be needed in the Senate to remove the president from office. With Republicans in control of the upper chamber, Trump’s acquittal in a trial seems certain.

House Democrats launched the inquiry against Trump in September after an unknown whistleblower alleged the Republican president pressured his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had served as a director for Ukrainian energy company Burisma.

Pelosi says Trump ‘impeached for life’ despite McConnell’s ‘gamesmanship’

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that Trump is “impeached for life” regardless of “any gamesmanship” by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Democrats are looking into whether Trump abused his power by withholding $391 million in US security aid to Ukraine in exchange for the investigation.

Trump has repeatedly denounced the impeachment inquiry against him as “a hoax.”

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