US President Trump impeached by House of Reps

US President Donald Trump attends a multilateral meeting with Western Hemisphere leaders about Venezuela during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at UN headquarters in New York City. September 25, 2019. Photo: Reuters

Donald Trump has become the third US president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives, setting up a trial in the Senate that will decide whether he remains in office.

According to BBC, the House voted on two charges – that the president abused his power and that he had obstructed Congress.

Both votes fell along party lines with nearly all Democrats voting for the charges and all Republicans against.

As voting took place, President Trump was addressing a campaign rally.

He told a cheering crowd in Battle Creek, Michigan: “While we’re creating jobs and fighting for Michigan, the radical left in Congress is consumed with envy and hatred and rage, you see what’s going on.”

The White House released a statement saying that the president was “confident that he will be fully exonerated” in a Senate trial.

The proceedings on Wednesday began with members of Mr Trump’s Republican Party calling for votes on procedural issues in an effort to frustrate the process.

That was followed by a vote on the rules to be set out for the impeachment, which kicked off 10 hours of partisan debate on the merits of the two impeachment charges against President Trump.

S-Davies Wande