Articles of Impeachment Against President Donald Trump Officially Approved for Final Vote

It's been reported that the Articles of Impeachment drawn up against President Donald Trump have officially been approved for a final vote. According to CNN, 23 democratic leaders on the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve the articles, while all 17 of the Republican representatives on the committee voted against them. The news outlet notes via Wolf Blitzer that one of the Democratic leaders, Ted Lieu from California, was not able to be present for the vote due to illness.

"He is ill. He could not vote. Otherwise, it would have been 24-17," Blitzer stated. The two articles of impeachment will move on to the full House of Representatives for a vote. Following the vote, many politicians and political experts have begun commenting on the inquiry.

Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmer issued a statement, saying, "I really hope and pray the Senate will not just pick it up and dismiss it. America needs to hear from the witnesses, and we didn't get to hear from them here. This was a kangaroo court."

"Enough of these phony process objections. Let’s get back to the facts of what happened: The president of the United States shook down a foreign power to come and get involved in our elections. That’s wrong." - Rep. Jamie Raskin https://t.co/7LpBfM9oFe

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 13, 2019

"Trump has been emboldened, not chastened, by impeachment. His personal attorney is at the WH right now after his trip to Ukraine to continue to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, the heart of this impeachment itself. And GOP is no longer lodging any protest. This is the reality for 2020," CNN anchor Jim Sciutto tweeted.

"To anyone who wonders what does impeachment do to this president ... This impeachment process tells the president you are no longer emboldened to put your personal gain above the office that you serve," Rep. Eric Stallwell was quoted as saying.

The founders of this country warned against a single party impeachment. They said it would bitterly, and perhaps irreparably, divide our nation.

Today, their worst fears were realized. God help us.#impeachmentDebate pic.twitter.com/SrfRALmmqA

— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) December 13, 2019

"For Democrats, impeachment is their drug, their obsession, their focus. They said the evidence would be overwhelming. It wasn't. They promised there would be support for impeachment after hearings. There wasn't. Today, they failed to meet the standard they set for themselves," Rep. Matt Gaetz said in a statement.

President Trump does not yet appear to have commented on the news.