US House Proceeds With Debates on Trump Impeachment
The US House of Representatives has opened the debate on impeaching President Donald Trump after three hours of discussions ironing out procedural matters
The rule adopted by the House allows lawmakers a time frame of up to six hours - equally divided between Democrats and Republicans - to proceed voting on two articles of impeachment at around 6:00 p.m. barring further delays.
"I solemnly and sadly open the debate on the impeachment of the President of the United States. If we don't act now, we would be derelict in our duty," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in her remarks on the floor. "It is tragic that the President's reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy rebuked the Democrats for embarking on an impeachment purely for political reason with no facts and out of hatred for the US president as well as a deep-rooted desire to oust him from office.
"This will be their legacy, but will not be the legacy that we want to have repeated," McCarthy said.
The US Constitution allows for a president to be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Trump has repeatedly said the impeachment inquiry is a sham and represents a continuation of the political witch hunt by Democrats to negate the results of the 2016 US presidential election.
For Trump to be impeached, a majority of the 435-member House must vote in favor of the two articles of impeachment before the process moves to the Senate for a vote on whether to remove the president from office.
The House is made up of 233 Democrats, 197 Republicans, 1 Independent and has four vacancies.
Should the House votes to impeach the president, the Republican-controlled Senate is expected to start a formal impeachment trial in the coming weeks.