Calling it a “difficult time for our nation,” U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Thursday voted to formally launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
On a largely party-line vote of 232 to 196, the House approved a package of rules governing how the impeachment inquiry would be conducted. The rules direct the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to conduct public hearings and then report to the House Judiciary Committee, which would draft any articles of impeachment.
Thursday’s vote formalizes a process that has been ongoing for weeks in the basement offices of the intelligence committee, on which Welch serves. Even as the full House debated the measure, the committee was taking testimony behind closed doors from Timothy Morrison, who resigned his position hours earlier as the top Russia expert at the National Security Council.
Welch, who long resisted endorsing impeachment, changed his tune in July — citing Trump’s refusal to cooperate with Congress and his racist attacks on lawmakers of color. He has since criticized the president for calling on the Ukrainian government to investigate former vice president Joe Biden.
“The House of Representatives will soon answer the fundamental question of whether it is appropriate for a president of the United States to solicit assistance for his political campaign from a foreign power while withholding from that country congressionally-approved military assistance,” Welch said in a written statement Thursday. “With today’s historic vote, we now have a clear road map on how our committee will present evidence to the House and the American people, and how the House will answer this question.”
Disclosure: Paul Heintz worked as Peter Welch’s communications director from November 2008 to March 2011.



Gigrape52, “Kool Aid”? Be unique if you want your posts to have merit. Neither you or the other Left Winger posting has anything to back up your posts. Just like Congress!
Since Trump announced his run for the presidency democrats have been calling him a racist. Mainly because he said Mexico is allowing rapist to come to the USA.
One Third of the migrant women who travel thru Mexico are raped on their journey. If the democrats plan is to have open borders, how do they plan to protect those migrant women from their rapist? Or do rapist have some unwritten law that keeps them from coming to the states that republicans are unaware of?? These familys should be allowed to claim asylum in there own country and not be forced to risk their lives on the journey.
Why do democrats only care about the migrants who make it and not the thousands that die trying.
DKELLY, I think you’ve been drinking too much of that kool aid that the other trumpty dumpty supporters have been. You and all of the other ones should smarten up and not believe everything that dictator trump says. But he did say he’s in love with dictator Kim Jung and he always listens to all of the other ones and sticks up for them!!
*a multi-racial staff*
Consisting of exactly the foreign workers he has racistly scapegoated and called rapists, criminals, and drug dealers.