WASHINGTON (CN) — Six hours of debate followed by a pair of votes on a two-part resolution: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
So will the culmination of nearly three months of investigation be marked after more than 100 hours of testimony from 17 witnesses, a cavalcade of furious presidential tweets and heated wrangling among seven congressional committees, inexorably leading on Wednesday to the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump, the third officeholder in U.S. history to bear that stain from the House of Representatives.
Facing an increasingly inevitable fate, Trump exhorted his supporters on Twitter to push for divine intervention.
“This should never happen to another President again,” Trump tweeted. “Say a PRAYER!”
Should Republican efforts fail, Trump’s impeachment will fall nearly 21 years to the exact day that the House voted to impeach President Bill Clinton, on Dec. 19, 1998.
The House’s calendar anticipates that the impeachment vote will fall between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., just as Trump is expected to address a campaign rally in Michigan.
Once the vote is settled in the House, the process shifts to the Senate for a trial to have Trump removed from office. Much like a traditional trial, there will be jurors. In an impeachment, however, each senator is a juror and the final authority goes to the judge presiding over the trial — in this case, Chief Justice John Roberts.
Senate rules require each juror to take the following oath: "I solemnly swear (or affirm) that in all things pertaining to the impeachment of Donald John Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God."
In contrast to those words, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham both announced their intention this past week to acquit Trump at trial without reviewing any evidence. McConnell vowed to steer the proceedings in total coordination with the White House.
With Republicans already signaling that their minds are made up and a Republican stranglehold gripping the Senate, it is seen as deeply unlikely that the required two-thirds supermajority needed to remove the president will be present once Trump’s trial begins, likely in January.
House proceedings began on Wednesday morning with a Republican-led motion to adjourn, which failed by a comfortable margin.
Another motion that failed came from GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, seeking to condemn the activities of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler.
Once opening statements began, the lines were sharply drawn.
For Democrats like Massachusetts Representative Joe Kennedy – the grandson of former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy – Trump’s conduct was not only impeachable but eroded the nation’s overall decency and dignity.