Here's When the Impeachment Vote Should Happen

And everything else you need to know
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 18, 2019 1:24 AM CST
Updated Dec 18, 2019 7:01 AM CST
Stage Is Set for Impeachment Vote
Approximately 350 protesters converged on Congresswoman Ann Wagner's office in Ballwin, Mo., on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019, demanding that she vote for President Trump's impeachment.   (J.B. Forbes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

Unless dozens of Democrats have a radical change of heart, President Trump will finish Wednesday as the third president in American history to be impeached. After a 10-hour debate Tuesday, the House Rules Committee set parameters for a debate on the two articles of impeachment Wednesday, clearing the way for a historic vote on the House floor later in the day. The committee voted 9-4 along party lines to send the articles to the full House, the Washington Post reports. The guidelines set by the committee allow six hours of debate on the impeachment articles, evenly divided between the two parties. No amendments will be allowed. More:

  • Debate leaders. The impeachment debate will be led by House Judiciary Committee leaders Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat, and Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking Republican on the committee, CNN reports. Nadler was not present at Tuesday's Rules Committee hearing due to a family medical emergency but aides say he will be back for the impeachment debate.

  • "History is testing us." Rules Committee members set out what the Hill calls "decidedly familiar" arguments on impeachment. "We all took an oath not to defend a political party but to uphold the Constitution of the United States,” said committee chairman Jim McGovern, a Democrat. "History is testing us." Collins called the impeachment proceedings a "sham" and predicted that there "will be a day of reckoning." "The calendar and the clock will continue. But what you do here and how we have trashed the process in getting here will live on," he said.
  • Wednesday's timeline. The House will begin debate on the two articles of impeachment—abuse of power and obstruction of Congress—at 9am Wednesday, with a final vote expected between 6:30pm and 7:30pm, Politico reports.
  • The expected vote. All 197 Republicans in the chamber are expected to vote against impeachment and almost all of the 233 Democrats are expected to vote in favor, the AP reports. The few exceptions include Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a soon-to-be former Democrat who plans to vote against impeachment. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden says he plans to vote to impeach on abuse of power but not obstruction.
  • Pro-impeachment rallies. There were hundreds of pro-impeachment rallies across the country Tuesday night, organized by a coalition of liberal groups, the New York Times reports. At a rally in Madison, Wis., Bill Kilgour, 87, said Congress was doing its duty by keeping the president in check. "If a friend was drunk and they wanted to drive, wouldn’t you have a responsibility to take the keys?" he said.
  • Trump won't be watching. The president says he won't be watching the impeachment "hoax" proceedings, Politico reports. Trump is holding a rally in Battle Creek, Mich., on Wednesday evening—where he will most likely use some very colorful terms to describe the impeachment process.
(Trump sent Nancy Pelosi an "extraordinary" letter on Tuesday.)

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