Donald Trump became the third President in US history to be impeached on December 18, 2019. Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached by the House of Representatives in 1868 and 1998, respectively, but not convicted by the Senate.
- In the 435-member House of Representatives , the Democrats have 233 members, while the Republicans (Trump is Republican) have 197.
- The House voted on the impeachment articles largely along party lines. The first article got 230 votes. The tally on the second article was 229-198.
- The impeachment is related to the Ukraine scandal. The Democrats have alleged that the President Trump abused his power by putting pressure on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch a probe against Joe Biden, the former Vice-President and a Democratic presidential candidate for the 2020 presidential election.
- Impeachment by the House of Representatives doesn’t mean that Trump will resign form the post. He has to face trial in the Senate. After the trial, the Senators will vote on his conviction.
- A President can be convicted and removed from office with the support of at least two-thirds of the Senate, that is 67 Senators in the 100-member U.S. Senate. In the Senate, the Republicans have a majority with 53 seats.
