United States President, Donald J. Trump has officially been impeached on Wednesday evening by the house of Representatives on charges that he abused the power of his office for domestic political advantage and subsequently obstructed Congress’ abilities to hold him accountable.
Trump has now become the third US president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives, setting up a trial in the Senate that will decide whether he remains in office.
The 45th US president could now be removed from office after 230 members of the House of Reps voted to probe his alleged abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The House called for votes on Wednesday evening on the two charges:
1) Abuse of power, stemming from Mr Trump’s alleged attempt to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into his Democratic political rival, Joe Biden.
2) Obstruction of Congress, because Mr Trump allegedly refused to co-operate with the impeachment inquiry, withholding documentary evidence and barring his key aides from giving evidence.
The vote for the first article (charge) of impeachment, abuse of power, was passed 230-197 and the second, for obstruction of Congress, 229-198.
Following votes on the two charges which are both against Trump, he is now set to face a trial in the Senate which will determine whether to convict and remove him from office next month.
Being impeached places Donald Trump alongside only two other presidents in the nation’s history – Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton – who faced a trial in the Senate for their presidency.
And if booted from the White House next month, Donald Trump will becomes the third member of the exclusive club that was rejected by the American people.
