Trump set to face more friendly Senate

Washington, December 19

The impeachment of President Donald Trump in the US House of Representatives on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress sets the stage for a historic trial next month in the Republican-controlled Senate on whether he should be removed from office.

The mostly party-line votes on Wednesday in the Democratic-led House came after long hours of bitter debate that reflected the partisan tensions in a divided America, and made Trump the third US President to be impeached.

Republicans argued that Democrats were using a rigged process to nullify the 2016 election and influence Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, while Democrats said Trump's actions in pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a leading Democratic presidential contender, were a threat to democracy.

Trump is certain to face more friendly terrain during a trial in the 100-member Senate, where a vote to remove him would require a two-thirds majority. That means at least 20 Republicans would have to join Democrats in voting against Trump — and none have indicated they will.

The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, has predicted there is "no chance" his chamber will remove Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after the vote she would wait to name the House managers, who will prosecute the case, until she knew more about the Senate trial procedures. She did not specify when she would send the impeachment articles to the Senate. — Reuters

All four Indian-Americans in House vote to impeach Trump

Washington: All four of Indian-American members in the House of Representatives passed two articles of impeachment against Trump. The four Indian-American Democrats had indicated that they would be voting to impeach Trump. Shortly after she voted to impeach Trump, Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, tweeted: “President Trump solicited foreign interference before, he is doing it now & he will do it again. He is the smoking gun.” The other three Indian-American congressmen who voted to impeach Trump are Democrats Ami Bera, Ro Khanna and Raja Krishnamoorthi. IANS

Two-thirds majority needed

President Donald Trump is certain to face more friendly terrain during a trial in the 100-member, Republican-controlled Senate, where a vote to remove him would require a two-thirds majority. That means at least 20 Republicans would have to join Democrats in voting against Trump; and none have indicated they will.

US’ Internal issue: Ukraine

Kiev: Ukraine on Thursday brushed off the impeachment as a US “internal issue”, despite the process being triggered by a telephone conversation between the American leader and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. AFP