House Judiciary Committee Will Vote Today on Articles of Impeachment

The House Judiciary Committee will vote on Friday morning to adopt articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Two articles have been put before the committee: Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Both are expected to pass.

The Judiciary Committee was originally scheduled to vote on the impeachment articles on Thursday, but a contentious debate on amendments to the articles went on for some 12 hours, leading Chairman Jerry Nadler to call the vote for Friday. Republican Ranking Member Doug Collins expressed outrage at the move.

Committee Republicans did their best to derail the impeachment process by introducing amendments that would strike out both articles. Though it was clear this strategy would not succeed, it allowed President Trump’s defenders to frustrate the process and reiterated their objections to the proceedings.

The articles of impeachment will almost certainly be approved along party lines, with all the Republicans on the committee voting against them. A series of party line votes have seen Democrats toe the line, while Republicans have tried to obstruct the committee’s work through parliamentary shenanigans and out-and-out disruption.

Impeachment is expected to come before the full House of Representatives for a vote around 20 or 21 December and it is widely accepted that it will pass. All Republicans will vote against it and it’s possible one or two Democrats on the right of the party will join them.