Since the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump was launched over two months ago, Congress has continued to make strides towards drafting articles of impeachment against the president. A turning point in the hearings came when Congress agreed to publicly air the testimonies of Trump officials and give Americans the opportunity to form judgements for themselves.
Being called history’s first “internet impeachment”, it is more important than ever for people to tune into the impeachment hearings and avoid reliance on biased individuals on social media to learn about the impeachment inquiry. VALLEY is here to share what is currently unfolding in congress and how you can continue to follow the hearings.
On December 4, the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee held its first public hearing on impeachment. Trump decided not to have his lawyers appear at the hearing. This hearing consisted of four legal experts on impeachment, rather than direct witnesses from the Trump administration. The legal experts gave their opinion of how Trump’s actions should be interpreted within the constitutional context of impeachment, three of which said that Trump should be impeached based on his abuse of power.
The Judiciary Committee is responsible for formally drafting articles of impeachment against the President. Up until now, the House Intelligence Committee has been holding all of the impeachment hearings and is now writing a report to summarize the testimonies of its witnesses. Next week, the report will be presented and members of the Intelligence committee will vote to approve the report. If approved, the House Judiciary will decide to write articles of impeachment, which they are expected to do.
If the House Judiciary Committee votes on these articles of impeachment, the vote will be expanded to the entire House of Representatives. Many expect that this vote to impeach President Trump could come as early as the end of this year.
As the impeachment inquiry continues, there are several important figures to take note of:
1. Representative Adam Schiff
Rep. Schiff is a democrat from California and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who has taken charge of the impeachment inquiry thus far. He will be presenting the report released this week that summarizes the testimonies that have taken place.
2. Representative Jerry Nadler
Rep. Nadler is a democrat from New York and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee that will be responsible to formally drafting articles of impeachment against the president.
3. Representative Nancy Pelosi
Rep. Pelosi is a democrat from California that is the Speaker of the House, or the highest-ranking congressperson in the House of Representatives. She is responsible for guiding the course of the impeachment inquiry.
The impeachment inquiry will only continue within Congress and will define the presidency of Donald Trump. In the history of the United States, only 2 other presidents have been impeached. As young adults, it is vital to educate ourselves about what is happening within our government. To tune in, almost all major news networks provide coverage of the inquiry.
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