Breaking News: U.S. House impeaches President Donald Trump
After hours of debate, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump.
Trump is on track to become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached, and the only one in modern times to be running for reelection facing the political equivalent of an indictment, an indelible mark on a purposely disruptive presidency.
Democrats led the voting on the first article of impeachment, abuse of power, and were expected to approve another, obstruction of Congress, in what many framed as their duty to protect the Constitution to uphold the nation’s system of checks and balances. Republicans stood beside the party’s president who tests the bounds of civic norms calling the whole affair a “witch hunt,” a “hoax” and a “sham,” and sometimes all three.
Meantime, Democrats here in Canada say impeachment is the right move.
Heidi Burch is the Chair of the Vancouver Island chapter of Democrats Abroad.
“It’s a pretty simple story,” she says. “The President betrayed his oath of office.”
She says watching the impeachment process from this side of the border has certainly been interesting.
“I think being up here, we were probably able to escape it as an every minute thing. But it certainly has been at the forefront of what I’ve been thinking and what other people have been paying attention to.”
The decision does not mean he will be removed from office, as a trial in the U.S. Senate is expected to begin next year.
