WASHINGTON _ The House of Representatives began debate Wednesday leading up to a vote this evening to impeach President Donald Trump for abusing his office and obstructing Congress, a condemnation that only two other U.S. presidents have faced in the nation's 243-year history.
Despite the historic nature of the vote to charge the president with committing high crimes and misdemeanors, the day's proceedings lack much suspense: Trump's fate has been sealed for days, if not weeks, in the Democratic-controlled House. Enough members of the House have publicly said they will vote for impeachment to ensure passage.
The back-to-back votes on two articles of impeachment, expected by about 8 p.m. Eastern, are expected to fall almost entirely along party lines.
As the House votes this evening, Trump is scheduled to be taking the stage at a campaign rally in Michigan near the home of Rep. Justin Amash, a Republican turned independent who plans to support impeachment _ the only non-Democrat who has said he intends to do so.
Trump, who chose not to participate in the formal impeachment hearing, lambasted the proceedings in a blistering six-page letter to Pelosi in which he denied any wrongdoing.
"You are making a mockery of impeachment and you are scarcely concealing your hatred of me, of the Republican Party, and tens of millions of patriotic Americans," he wrote.
Lawmakers will spend Wednesday on the House floor making final speeches for and against the impeachment articles. Republicans started the day by forcing a vote to adjourn the House, a delay tactic commonly used by the minority party before significant votes.
Centrist Democrats who for months resisted calls from more progressive Democrats to try to remove Trump from office now say the president's offenses warrant impeachment.
Republicans, who have stuck with the president, say Democrats have sullied the impeachment process by using it as a personal vendetta.
If the House votes Wednesday as expected, the articles of impeachment would go to the GOP-controlled Senate, where Republicans have shown little appetite for a lengthy trial. That step would get underway in early January.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has signaled it is all but impossible for Democrats to garner the 67 votes needed to convict the president and remove him from office.
That would be in keeping with American history. The Senate did not convict President Andrew Johnson in 1868 or President Clinton in 1999 after their impeachments. Wednesday's vote is slated to take place one day short of 21 years since Clinton faced the same fate in the House.
In the weeks leading up to the vote, Pelosi has tried to strike a somber, solemn tone, underscoring Democrats' argument that they pursued impeachment because they believe it is their constitutional duty to do so.
"No Member came to Congress to impeach a President," she wrote in a letter to fellow Democrats on Tuesday night. Their oath of office "makes us Custodians of the Constitution. If we do not act, we will be derelict in our duty."
Other Democrats tried to echo that sentiment.
"I think it's a patriotic moment for all of us, whether we're voting yes or no," said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif. "But for me it's very clear, this is a reckless president, who feels no obligation to comply with the law on any level."
Nearly every Democrat had announced by Tuesday evening that he or she would support the articles. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine said he would support the article of impeachment charging abuse of power, but not obstruction of Congress. One Democrat who opposed impeachment, Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, plans to switch parties.
Democrats pledged that they were not strong-arming their members to support the articles _ and swore that politics played no role in their decision.
"No one raised their hand and swore to defend the polling data," said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md.
Republicans are expected to be equally unified. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., anticipated Tuesday that no GOP lawmaker would support the articles.
"The facts are on our side," he said.
The political fallout of the vote may not be clear until the November 2020 election, in which voters will decide whether Trump will get a second term and whether Democrats will continue to control the House.
The fallout could be particularly noticeable in the congressional districts that flipped from a Republican lawmaker to a Democratic one in the 2018 election.
The White House has already targeted one of those lawmakers, Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., for his impeachment vote.
"Instead of working to uplift the middle class as promised, Rep. Gil Cisneros joins Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the coastal elites in support of their baseless impeachment proceedings," said White House deputy press secretary Steven Groves.
Cisneros _ who last week was one of the few Democrats to attend the congressional Christmas party at the White House _ said his district is split 50-50 on the issue.
"If I'm going to look at every poll that needs to be done or decide which way the wind is blowing before I take a vote, then maybe I don't belong here in this job," Cisneros said in an interview. "I'm doing this for the benefit of our country and protecting our Constitution, and I'll live with that. I have no regrets at all in supporting the impeachment of the president."
