House panel to edit Trump articles of impeachment in rare evening session
Democrats on the judiciary committee to put finishing touches on House resolution 755, ‘impeaching Donald Trump’
Democrats on the judiciary committee to put finishing touches on House resolution 755, ‘impeaching Donald Trump’
Eager not to miss a stride in the impeachment process against Donald Trump, Democrats on the House judiciary committee scheduled a rare evening session Wednesday to put the finishing touches on the articles of impeachment unveiled Tuesday.
Beginning at 7pm, legislators will begin the process of editing House resolution 755, “impeaching Donald John Trump, president of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors”.
It was not expected that lawmakers would make substantial changes to the highly workshopped articles, which charge the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The evening session, expected to be taken up with introductory speeches, was to be followed by a morning session Thursday in which the committee would debate amendments to the resolution and then vote on the articles. Both articles were expected to be approved by the committee
If the committee completes its work by Thursday afternoon as expected, a full House vote on whether to impeach Trump could be held next Tuesday or Wednesday.
But judiciary committee members would have to conclude their work Thursday before a planned recess that afternoon for a 75th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of the Bulge.
Running to barely nine pages, the succinct impeachment resolution describes how Trump allegedly used the power of his office to pressure Ukraine to tamper in the 2020 US election, at the expense of US national security and elections integrity.
The resolution says Trump further obstructed Congress by directing “the unprecedented, categorical and indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas issued by the House of Representatives pursuant to its ‘sole power of impeachment’.
“In the history of the republic, no president has ever ordered the complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to obstruct and impede so comprehensively the ability of the House of Representatives to investigate ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’,” the resolution states.
Saying that Trump had “ignored and injured the interests of the nation”, the resolution declares that Trump “thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.”
At a campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania Tuesday night, Trump said impeachment was “stupid” and falsely claimed that “our poll numbers have gone through the roof” owing to the impeachment process. Polling averages show Trump’s approval basically static at about minus-12 points.
