Impeachment Is On
Credit to Author: Cameron Joseph| Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2019 15:35:02 +0000
WASHINGTON — Impeachment is a go.
The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Trump on Friday morning, a historic moment following an absurd marathon of hearings that sets up what will be just the third impeachment of a sitting president in U.S. history.
The committee voted along party lines to approve two articles of impeachment: obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. The vote clears the last major procedural hurdle before a full House vote next week.
The vote came after two full days of hearings — including a 14-hour Thursday bicker-fest where Republicans raged against the process and repeatedly attacked former Vice President Joe Biden. The committee recessed around midnight Thursday to set up a Friday morning vote.
READ: The Democrats just handed Trump a huge policy win after moving to impeach him
The moment itself felt almost anticlimactic. There were no big speeches ahead of the vote. Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) gaveled the committee in, called the pair of votes, and immediately adjourned.
Nadler decided shortly before midnight Thursday to postpone the committee vote until Friday morning rather than drag it into the middle of the night, as Republicans had intended.
Nadler’s announcement that hearing would adjourn led to an explosion from Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the ranking Republican on the committee, who griped that it would screw up members’ Friday plans.
"You've just blown up schedules for everyone," Collins said. "This is the kangaroo court that we're talking about."
Cover: U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) (L) gavels to an adjournment the committee hearing on the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump as ranking member Doug Collins (R-GA) looks on at the Longworth House Office Building on Thursday December 12, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harrer – Pool/Getty Images)
This article originally appeared on VICE US.