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US President Donald Trump impeached, all you need to know

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The US House of Representatives on Wednesday, voted to impeach President Donald Trump on two charges, abuse of his office and for the obstruction of Congress.

He is not expected to resign from office, even as this removal process now shifts to the US Senate, it is unlikely that the Senate will remove him.

In this regard, the House passed the abuse of power article by 230 votes in favour, 197 against and 1 member abstained.

The other article related to the obstruction of Congress was passed with 229 members voting in favour, 198 against and 1 member abstained.

The total strength of the House of Representatives is 430. The half way mark for any motion to pass is 216.

Also Read: President Donald Trump impeached by US House for abuse of power

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi presided over the House with a majority of Democrats.

Let us look at this case and the steps that will follow this impeachment motion.

Charges against President Trump

The first charge against President Trump is related to the offence of abuse of power.

The allegations against him are that in the month of July, he withheld military aid worth approximately US $400 million to Ukraine. This was to assist Ukraine in combating Russian aggression in the Crimean region.

Subsequently, on a phone call with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump is alleged to have made this military aid and a meeting at the White House conditional on Ukraine announcing to investigate charges against Trump’s 2020 Presidential poll rival Joe Biden and his son in law for alleged business malpractices. They served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian oil and gas company. He also wanted Ukraine to announce the probe into the alleged Ukrainian interference sought by the Democrats into the 2016 US Presidential elections. Joe Biden is a leading Democrat party leader who is seeking the party nomination to contest the upcoming US Presidential polls in 2020. He has served as the Vice-President of the US, in the past.

The second charge related to this impeachment is the allegation of obstruction of Congress. It is alleged that the President obstructed the functioning of the House, during this impeachment process and the investigations into the alleged misconduct. Whitehouse prevented officials from testifying before the House Judicial panel. Diplomats from the US State Department and other officials were asked to stay away and not participate in proceedings described by Trump as a ‘witch hunt’.

Steps ahead

The entire impeachment process and the subsequent consequences are described in Article 2 Section 4 of the US Constitution.
The US President can face impeachment proceedings for violation of the constitution, criminal breach of trust, other high moral offences amongst other offences.

The US House of Representatives have to pass a motion in favour of the impeachment. Once it is passed, the US President stands impeached, however doesn’t step down from office. The House Resolution is just like an investigation into a criminal offence.

Once the resolution is passed, it is transmitted to the US Senate (Like India, the US also has a bicameral legislature). Here, the attorneys of both Trump and the House of Representatives will argue their case before the senators who will perform their functions as a jury.

The proceedings shall be presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts.

The Speaker of the House has announced that once the House reconvenes in January, the attorneys to purse this case in the Senate shall be announced. The White House has already announced the attorneys who will be pursuing this case to defend the President.

Once both the sides pursue this case, the members of the US senate will vote on a motion to remove the President from office.

In this present case, it is highly unexpected that President Trump will be convicted. The Senate has a majority of Republicans, the party the President belongs to.

The total strength of the house is 100 and 2/3 majority, i.e. 67 is needed for this motion to succeed. The senate consists of 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and 2 Independent members.

Hence, it is highly unlikely that President Trump will be removed from office.

Impeached US Presidents

Three US Presidents have faced impeachment and Trump is the fourth.

Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached by the House of Representatives but the Senate did not remove them from office.

Robert Nixon resigned during the process of impeachment itself.

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