The House impeached President Trump. Here's what you need to know.

                       

President Trump has become the third president in history to be impeached.

The House passed both articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Here's what you need to know about the vote:

• The House voted almost entirely along party lines: The House voted 230-197 to charge Trump with abuse of power and 229-198 to charge him with obstruction of Congress. Just two Democrats voted against both articles, Reps. Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, who is expected to soon switch parties. A third, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted for one impeachment article. Republican-turned independent Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan voted to impeach Trump on both counts. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, voted present for both articles.
• There was a six-hour debate: An intense partisan debate over impeachment played out for hours on the House floor on rapid-fire fashion ahead of the impeachment votes. In one-to-two minute speeches, Democrats and Republicans traded passionate arguments for why they were voting for or against impeachment. Back and forth they went: Democrats explaining the duty to impeach, followed by Republicans declaring that impeachment was a massive mistake.
• Trump held the longest rally speech of his presidency: Trump acknowledged the vote to impeach him, which occurred as he was speaking on stage at his nearly two-hour campaign rally in Michigan tonight. The votes occurred in the middle of his speech. It appeared he learned of the vote tallies from an aide. Trump used the result to tout Republican unity.
• What happens next: The vote shifts the impeachment proceedings to the Senate, where a trial is expected in January. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Republican senators at a policy lunch Tuesday that he will announce by the end of the week the date for the start of the Senate trial, according to sources. The Senate will decide whether to convict Trump and remove him from office.

McConnell will speak on the Senate floor tomorrow morning

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted moments ago that he would speak about President Trump's impeachment on the floor at 9:30 a.m. ET tomorrow. 

Read his tweet:

At 9:30am tomorrow morning, on the Senate floor, I will speak about House Democrats’ precedent-breaking impeachment of the President of the United States.

— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) December 19, 2019

What happens next in the Trump impeachment

        

                                     Susan Walsh/AP

The next steps in the impeachment saga all depends on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi would not commit tonight on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, which will hold a trial and decide whether to convict President Trump and remove him from office.

“That would have been our intention, but we’ll see what happens over there," Pelosi signaled at her news conference tonight.

Why this matters: Some progressives have urged Democratic leaders to withhold the articles until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agrees to procedures for the Senate trial that Democrats have called for, as well as agreeing to bring in firsthand witnesses like acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to testify.

Pelosi said Democrats will make the decision “as a group” on when to send the articles to the Senate.

CNN’s Phil Mattingly noted there are procedural concerns behind not sending the articles tonight — Democrats can’t send them over tonight because the Senate would have to take it up tomorrow, and it would shut down action in the Senate. That would mess with appropriations.

“We cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side, and we hope that will be soon,” Pelosi said of naming impeachment managers for the Senate trial. “So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us, so hopefully it will be fair.”

In the hours before the votes to impeach President Trump tonight, the atmosphere at the Trump International Hotel in Washington was nearly, but not quite, joyous. Two of the four televisions hanging above the lobby lounge bar were tuned to ESPN.

Few of the guests, if any, were paying much attention to the ongoing debate on the floor of the House of Representatives.

One of those at the bar was Heather Zabel, a 35-year-old nursing student in Virginia who considers herself a big fan of Trump’s.

“Big deal,” Zabel said, gesturing at the TV showing lawmakers arguing about impeaching Trump. “This is only making Republicans angry. And we’re going to vote for him again.”

The general consensus around the bar from Trump supporters echoed the Republican talking-points: that Democrats were pushing impeachment because they couldn’t stand seeing him in the White House. The “Russia collusion” gambit failed, and Ukraine was just the next effort to undo the 2016 election.

After the House passed the second impeachment count, Zabel’s face had fallen. Everything had happened as predicted — Trump was impeached, but he was still more than likely to be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.

“I’m sad!” she said, looking genuinely hurt. “It’s a bad mark on him. I feel bad for him.” 

As she spoke, the crowd around the bar began to thin out. Some shuffled across the lobby to have dinner at the hotel restaurant. Others began to head for the doors. Those who stayed looked down from the TVs and to their phones, or back to their own conversations. At Trump’s hotel, just blocks from the Capitol and the White House after the impeachment of the President, life had moved on.

•  Source from CNNNEWS