On Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach sitting President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. 

The decision was the culmination of a day-long debate to determine whether Trump abused his presidential power by attempting to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rival, Joe Biden. To pressure Ukraine, Trump withheld congressionally-mandated military aid, a quid pro quo.  

The House voted to impeach Trump on two articles. Entirely along party lines, the first vote, 230-197, found Trump guilty for abuse of power. The second vote, 229-198, impeached him for obstructing Congress’ investigation. 

In the next step of the impeachment process, Trump will go before the Republican-controlled Senate in early January, which will vote on whether or not to actually convict and remove him from office. The Senate must have a two-thirds majority, making it highly unlikely that Trump will get convicted and removed.

This is the first time a president has been impeached in two decades and only the third time in the nation’s history, the other presidents being President Bill Clinton in 1998-1999 and President Andrew Johnson in 1868.