BURLINGTON — Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., says when articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump arrive on the floor of the House of Representatives, it will be the most significant decision he will have had to make in his 12 years in Congress.
“It’s the most important vote I will cast,” Welch told reporters Monday about the decision to impeach a sitting U.S. president for only the third time in history.
As a member of the House Intelligence Committee — which has spearheaded the investigation into whether Trump abused the power of the White House during his dealings with Ukraine — Welch signaled in late October he would vote to remove the president from office.
“Impeachment by definition is a very divisive topic in this country. It’s very wrenching. So, I don’t feel good about it, but I’ve come to the conclusion: It’s our duty,” Welch said.
“I’m kind of heartsick about it,” he added. “This is not what I ever anticipated I’d be doing.”
On Dec. 5, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced she had instructed key committee chairs to draft articles of impeachment that spell out specific charges against Trump.
“His wrongdoing strikes at the very heart of our Constitution,” Pelosi said last week about the president’s alleged attempt to coerce the president of Ukraine to investigate the Biden family.
Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution outlines impeachable acts include “conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
But while treason is clearly defined as going to war against the United States or giving aid and comfort to the country’s enemies, the other impeachable offenses have been debated among constitutional lawyers and past lawmakers.
The House Judiciary Committee is currently tasked with deciding which impeachable offenses Trump has committed, and panel chair Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., has said he expects the charges to be drafted in the coming days — setting up possible floor votes as soon as next week.
Bribery and obstruction of justice charges are likely to be included in the articles of impeachment.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, D-Calif., has publicly accused Trump of attempting to bribe Ukraine.
Welch has repeatedly said the president’s stonewalling of the impeachment investigation and his disregard for the rule of law are just as concerning to him as the president asking a foreign power to investigate a political rival in exchange for military aid.
The House will need a simple majority — there are 235 Democrats in the lower chamber, 199 Republicans, and one independent — to impeach Trump before it will switch to the Senate for an impeachment trial.
But as House Democrats continue to take their time as they decide on the charges against Trump, the president has challenged Pelosi to impeach him as quickly as possible.
“They have no Impeachment case and are demeaning our Country. But nothing matters to them, they have gone crazy,” Trump wrote on Twitter last week. “Therefore I say, if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair … trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business.”
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has been involved in talks between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as the Senate sets guidelines for the impeachment trial.
McConnell has signaled the Republican-controlled Senate is likely to acquit Trump of any wrongdoing. A two-thirds vote is needed in the Senate to convict.
“I will say I’m pretty sure how it’s likely to end,” McConnell told Politico in November. “If it were today, I don’t think there’s any question — it would not lead to a removal.”
Two previous presidents who were impeached — Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton — were acquitted by the Senate. No president has been removed from office.
