The House impeachment inquiry vote: What it means, what happens next

The House formalized impeachment proceedings against President Trump, mainly on a party line vote with the 13 Illinois Democrats voting yes and five Republicans no.

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Speaker of the House, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi presides over the U.S. House of Representatives as it votes on a resolution formalizing the impeachment inquiry centered on President Donald Trump on Thursday.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi presides over the House of Representatives as it votes Thursday on a resolution formalizing the impeachment inquiry centered on President Donald Trump.

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The House on near party lines — with the Illinois members breaking the same way — Thursday voted to continue ongoing impeachment investigations against President Donald Trump while providing for public hearings and giving Trump a chance to make his case.

Here’s a breakdown on what the vote means, what’s changed, how this impeachment compares to the others and what Illinois lawmakers said.

Historic day:Only four presidents — Andrew Johnson; Richard Nixon; Bill Clinton; and now Trump — have been subject to formal impeachment related votes.

The vote: The resolution passed on a 232-196 roll call, with two Democrats defecting, Reps. Colin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. The Republicans stuck together. 

What changed, 1: An impeachment inquiry was already ongoing in several committees, with so many issues being looked at it was difficult for Democrats to articulate the cases against Trump. The tip from a whistleblower that Trump in a July 25 phone call pushed the president of Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden revived and refocused the inquiry. The series of Ukraine related revelations — and the willingness of past or current officials from the White House and State Department to testify — added a new urgency to the proceedings.

What changed, 2: Republicans and Trump have complained that the House Ukraine proceedings have been in closed sessions. The resolution sets down rules for the proceedings: The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will conduct public hearings and then submit a report to the Judiciary Committee, with the power to recommend articles of impeachment and hold its own hearings.

Rules: Depositions taken in closed sessions will be made public, subject to redactions. Republican members and staffs will be able to question witnesses and call their own — with some caveats that outraged Republicans — a Democratic chair has the power to block a witness. Trump and his lawyers are entitled to participate.

Why resolution needed: The Constitution gives the House the “sole power of impeachment.” While Democrats could legally proceed, Republicans were seeking to delegitimize the impeachment inquiry because of a lack of an authorization vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this year was cool to pursuing impeachment; the Ukraine revelations pushed her over the line.

Why Trump is fixated on unmasking the whistleblower: Trump routinely smears critics. My analysis is Trump wants to out the whistleblower and portray that person as a partisan in order to argue the fruits of the whistleblower’s information is tainted.

Compare to Clinton, Nixon: Not all aspects comparable. The Clinton 1998 impeachment came after the Starr Report, a years long investigation that started with the Whitewater real estate deal and ended with Monica Lewinsky. Nixon was pursued in the House in 1973 after the Senate held public hearings on the Watergate break-in. The Trump Ukraine investigation is unfolding in real time.

The five Illinois Republicans who voted no: Reps. John Shimkus and Adam Kinzinger have criticized Trump. Shimkus quit as an Illinois campaign co-chair over Trump’s impulsive Syria move and the Trump campaign never included the outspoken Kinzinger. They joined their three colleagues in voting against the inquiry.

Shimkus called it “a purely partisan political resolution promising to continue the Democrats’ never-ending quest to overturn the 2016 election.”  

Rep. Mike Bost said, “Since day one, Speaker Pelosi and the Washington Democrats have sought to remove this president from office by any means necessary.” Rep. Darin LaHood said, “Impeachment is the nullification of an election. Only in extraordinary and extreme instances should it be applied, and as a former federal prosecutor, nothing in the facts or evidence presented so far supports the predicate for impeachment.”

Kinzinger said, “We need answers to what happened with regards to Ukraine, but my colleagues across the aisle chose to start this impeachment process behind closed doors well before bringing this resolution to the House floor today.” Rep. Rodney Davis is the fifth no.

The 13 Illinois Democrats voted yes: “This is a tragedy for our country, but no one is above the law,” said Rep. Lauren Underwood. It’s too soon to gauge the impact of impeachment on vulnerable freshmen Sean Casten and Undewood, major GOP 2020 targets.

Casten has been more outspoken about his support for an impeachment inquiry than Underwood — but his district went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Underwood is running in Trump turf.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC endorsed by House GOP Leadership, on Thursday launched a web ad against Underwood for backing impeachment.

Said Casten, “We must, however, continue to gather all of the information before we prejudge the outcome of an inquiry.”

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