Since President Trump was elected, a portion of our United States population has longed for impeachment. Trump has suffered many accusations, but none have fully come to fruition. This past September, one accusation unfolded, picking up steam to the path of a possible impeachment and leading to acquittal. In the past few weeks alone, even more information has been uncovered and the House has taken a major vote regarding the future of this impeachment process.
House Democrats began the impeachment inquiry in September to examine whether the White House refused to give military aid to Ukraine unless Ukraine investigated former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Two more witnesses, Lt. Col. Vindman and Mr. Morrison, have recently affirmed the underlying facts of the Ukraine story to House investigators. These two witnesses have confirmed that Trump sought to pressure the Ukrainian government for information that would help in the 2020 election.
While this all began to unfold more closely, the House voted to make its impeachment inquiry formal on October 31. This vote passed 232 to 196 with no Republican support, and all but two Democrats voted to proceed with the impeachment inquiry. Trump has criticized this process. calling it “unfair, unconstitutional, and fundamentally un-American.” But these proceedings have lined up with the course of the inquires into Presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. This begs the question: what does this vote mean for our country, and how will our government proceed?
This House vote demonstrates the Democrats’ willingness to move forward to the next phase of the inquiry. Instead of closed-door depositions that have taken place the past few weeks, our government is moving to public hearings. Republicans have made this lack of House vote a key criticism of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry. This vote was not necessary to further the impeachment inquiry, but Nancy Pelosi decided to change course and hold this vote to move the inquiry to the next phase. The resolution is framed as one “directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations.” This resolution was not made to start the impeachment inquiry, instead, to prove the support for the inquiry and to continue the investigation.
This House resolution additionally proves the publicity portrayed in this process through the open hearings. Traditionally, the Judiciary Committee takes the lead with impeachment, but this resolution has said that the committee holding hearings will be the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Adam Schiff. After Schiff has held public hearings, he will make a report with his findings and his recommendations. After this report, the Judiciary Committee will review the report and draft impeachment articles if necessary. The path of impeachment for President Trump still remains unclear, but we can witness the persistence from both Republicans and Democrats for their cause.
What is most evident from this House vote is the polarization of our country. In past impeachment inquiries, the president under pressure has lost a lot of support from the party with which he was affiliated. As we can see from this vote with Trump, Republicans are willing to maintain support for Trump throughout this process. If Trump does not get acquitted from office, the 2020 election may see Republican voters fight more strongly for Trump than before. Our country is clearly divided in politics, which causes fewer changes and policies put into action for the betterment of our country.