Washington: The decision to impeach US President Donald Trump was taken by a vote in the House of Representatives. The impeachment motion was passed by 232 votes to 197.
In the Democrat-majority assembly, 10 Republicans voted against Trump. With the passage of the impeachment motion in the House of Representatives, the trial will now move on to the Senate. With a two-thirds majority in the Senate, Trump could be indicted.
This would be possible with the support of 17 Republicans in addition to the 50 Democrats in the 100 – member Senate.
The impeachment proceedings against Trump began in the wake of last week’s attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Parliament building, the Capitol. This made Trump the first U.S. president to face two impeachments.
The impeachment process began in the House of Representatives after Vice President Mike Pence refused to apply the 25th Amendment to oust Trump. Mike Pence’s explanation is that he will not stand by the House of Representatives’ attempts to play politics with only days left to step down.
He also pointed out that the 25th Amendment should be applied in case the President is incapacitated or physically disabled.
When the impeachment motion against Trump was introduced in 2019, not a single member of the Republican Party supported it. Trump’s response, meanwhile, was that the impeachment fraud was a continuation of years of harassment against him.
However, reports suggest that the Senate may not begin proceedings before January 20. Joe Biden takes over on the 20th. Once the impeachment process is complete, Trump will no longer be able to participate in the elections.