In the history of the United States presidency, Donald Trump is the third President to be impeached, joining the likes of Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, who were both found innocent.
Law professor, Jonathan Turley, said to BBC News, “You have to allege high crimes and misdemeanors to impeach a President in the House and then you’ve got to prove it in the Senate.”
On Wednesday the House debated and voted on the two impeachment articles; the first, Trump abused his power as President for his own benefit and the second, obstruction of Congress when he refused to cooperate with Congress’s investigation into his alleged misconduct. The House vote went as follows:
Article 1 – Abuse of power: 230 – 197, in favour of impeachment
Article 2 – Obstruction of Congress: 229 – 198, in favour of impeachment
Both articles were adopted, and Donald Trump is impeached. He will now face a trial in the Senate, which will determine what happens next.
According to the Washington Post, the Constitution states that “the President who has been impeached by the House can still serve as President. It’s up to the Senate to hold a trial to decide whether to remove him from office. Senators must take a public vote, and two-thirds of those present must agree on whether to convict the President and thus remove him from office. But the constitution doesn’t lay out exactly how to hold the trial”.
