US President Donald Trump stood on the verge of impeachment Friday after a House panel approved charges he abused his power and obstructed Congress, setting up a historic vote in the chamber next week.
In a grave moment for a deeply divided nation, members of the Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to approve two articles of impeachment against the president for committing acts that met the constitutional threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The panel recommended by 23 votes to 17 that the Democratic-led House ratify both articles, ahead of a vote by the entire chamber that is expected to make Trump only the third US president in history to be impeached, after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998.
“Today is a solemn and sad day,” committee chairman Jerry Nadler said after the vote, which was called with surprising speed the day after a rancorous 14-hour debate.
“Yet we must meet the challenge posed by a president who puts himself before the country, whose actions pose a direct threat to the integrity of our elections, and to the separation of powers that safeguard our liberty.”
One article charges the president with abuse of power for conditioning $391 million in critical military aid and a White House meeting on Ukraine launching investigations into Democrats ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The other charges him with obstructing Congress for refusing to cooperate with the inquiry, a development Democrats say is unprecedented in American history.
