The House Judiciary Committee was taking the first steps Wednesday evening toward voting on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, beginning a marathon two-day session to consider the historic charges.
The Judiciary meeting is to mark up, or amend, the two articles of impeachment that Democrats introduced Tuesday.
Those articles charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to his dealings with Ukraine. Republicans, unified against Trump’s impeachment, are expected to propose revisions to the articles, which span only nine pages. But Democrats are unlikely to accept them.
Democrats have already agreed to the language, which says Trump acted “corruptly” and “betrayed the nation” when he asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and the 2016 US election.
Hamstrung in the minority, Republicans won’t have the votes to make changes without support from at least some Democrats.
The Wednesday evening session of the 41-member panel is expected to last several hours, with opening statements from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Votes won’t come until Thursday, when the committee will consider amendments and likely hold a final vote to send the articles to the House floor.