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Read the news of the day in less than 10 minutes — not that we’re counting.
Hewing mostly to party lines, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night voted to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
He became the third president in American history to receive the federal government’s ultimate censure — and the first with a strong Philadelphia connection: Trump is an alumnus of Penn’s Wharton School, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1968.
The two different articles of impeachment received slightly different outcomes. On abuse of power, the count was 230 to 197, with just two Democrats joining the Republicans in voting against. On obstruction of Congress, a third Dem broke ranks to end up with a vote of 229 to 198.
What happens next? As written in the U.S. Constitution, the House sends the articles to the Senate, which then holds a trial presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. A two-thirds “super majority” is required to convict.
However, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated yesterday she might not immediately hand things over to the GOP-controlled Senate.
Neither of the two previous impeached presidents, Bill Clinton (1998) or Andrew Johnson (1868) were convicted. Unlike those two, Trump is only in his first term, so the general public will have a chance to weigh in when he runs for reelection in November.
Pundits think the impeachment vote could also have an effect further down the ticket, as voters consider how their congresspersons did or did not act in their best interests during this historic action.
Here’s how all the representatives from Pennsylvania voted when it came to impeaching Donald Trump.
Note: there’s no effective difference between “yea” and “aye” or “no” and “nay.”
Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican (PA-1, Bucks County)
Nay, No
Brendan Boyle, Democrat (PA-2, Philadelphia)
Yea, Aye
Dwight Evans, Democrat (PA-3, Philadelphia)
Yea, Aye
Madeleine Dean, Democrat (PA-4, Montgomery County)
Yea, Aye
Mary Gay Scanlon, Democrat (PA-5, Delaware County)
Yea, Aye
Chrissy Houlahan, Democrat (PA-6, Chester County)
Yea, Aye
Susan Wild, Democrat (PA-7, Lehigh County)
Yea, Aye
Matt Cartwright, Democrat (PA-8, Luzerne County)
Yea, Aye
Daniel Meuser, Republican (PA-9, Lebanon County)
Nay, No
Scott Perry, Republican (PA-10, York County)
Nay, No
Lloyd Smucker, Republican (PA-11, Lancaster County)
Nay, No
Fred Keller, Republican (PA-12, Snyder County)
Nay, No
John Joyce, Republican (PA-13, Blair County)
Nay, No
Guy Reschenthaler, Republican (PA-14, Washington County)
Nay, No
Glenn Thompson, Republican (PA-15, Centre County)
Nay, No
Mike Kelly, Republican (PA-16, Butler County)
Nay, No
Conor Lamb, Democrat (PA-17, Beaver County)
Yea, Aye
Michael Doyle, Democrat (PA-18, Allegheny County)
Yea, Aye