US politicians approved two charges against Donald Trump on December 13 2019, setting up a full House of Representatives vote on whether to impeach the US president for abusing his powers and obstructing congress.
Democrats and Republicans in the house judiciary committee voted along strict party lines, 23 to 17, appearing sombre as they put Trump on track to become only the third US president ever to be impeached.
“Today is a solemn and sad day,” committee chairperson Jerry Nadler said after the votes, which were called with surprising speed after a caustic 14-hour debate the previous day.
The historic votes approved two articles: one charges the president with abuse of power for conditioning military aid and a White House meeting on Ukraine launching investigations into US Democrats; the other with obstruction of congress for his blanket refusal to co-operate with any aspect of the inquiry.
The articles of impeachment will now be considered by the full house, which is set to vote on impeaching Trump on December 18 2019.
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