Bye, bye Donnie: Trump impeached on two counts by House, Senate trial impending

Voting mostly along party lines, the United States House of Representatives has impeached President Donald Trump on two counts - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The vote took place after a bitter debate that stretched into the evening. He is now one of only three United States Presidents to face impeachment by the Senate in the country's history. The Senate impeachment trial is impending and has been scheduled for next month, The New York Times reports. As expected, Trump was not too satisfied with how the vote played out and took to his favorite social media platform, Twitter, to rant about it.

The President tweeted as the House debate took place, "SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!" Then, while the vote took place, Trump took the stage at an arena-style campaign rally in Battle Creek, Michigan. He called the whole impeachment procedure a "hoax" and claimed he had nothing to worry about. "I’m not worried," he asserted. "You don’t do anything wrong and you get impeached. That may be a record that will last forever." He also took a swing at the Democratic Party, whose members overwhelmingly voted in favor of impeachment (as predicted), arguing that they had "cheapened the impeachment process."

Only two Democrats opposed the impeachment article on abuse of power. The article in question accused Trump of utilizing the leverage of the US government to persuade Ukraine into undertaking investigations and invalidate Trump's Democratic rivals during the upcoming Presidential elections. Meanwhile, Republicans were united in their opposition. Despite this, the call for impeachment passed with 230 votes for the motion and 197 votes against. As for the second charge of obstruction of Congress, a third Democrat voted against. The vote closed with 229 yays to 198 nays. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who initially attempted to stay the impeachment trial, gaveled the tight vote closed from the House rostrum.

A historic trial is now set to take place in the next year. 10 months before the Presidential elections, the Senate will decide on whether he should be acquitted of all charges or convicted and forcibly removed from the White House. Experts suggest that Trump could face acquittal; as the Senate benefits at present from a Republican majority, the 45th President could just be safe. However, it has been argued that the black mark of an impeachment trial is not something that the American people will be able to forget too easily. Nicholas Fandos and Michael D. Shear writing for The New York Times affirmed, "Regardless of the outcome, the impeachment votes in the House put an indelible stain on Mr. Trump’s presidency that cannot be wiped from the public consciousness with a barrage of tweets or an angry tirade in front of thousands of his cheering supporters at a campaign rally." Let's just all hope that they're right.