01-15-20 Managers vote
January 15, 2020 by David Silverberg
Updated 6:00 pm with comments and statements.
The US House of Representatives at 1:33 pm today voted to send articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump to the US Senate by a vote of 228 to 193.
The vote on House Resolution 798 was along party lines with only one Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-7-Minn.), voting against the resolution.
Southwest Florida representatives, Republican Reps. Francis Rooney (District 19), Mario Diaz-Balart (District 25) and Greg Steube (District 17), followed Party discipline and voted against the resolution.
“House Dems have wanted to impeach @realDonaldTrump since his first day in office and they stopped at nothing to ensure he was impeached in the House. I hope my colleagues in the Senate spend more time examining facts than the House did during our impeachment circus,” tweeted Steube. “Today, Articles of Impeachment that have no basis in the Constitution are being sent to the Senate. If this was a court of law, these Articles would be dismissed upon arrival.”
Rooney did not address the impeachment vote. His mind was on Russia: “Putin’s proposed constitutional reforms to limit his Presidential successor’s powers is a sign that he has no plans to relinquish power after his term expires. Regardless of what happens in 2024, he will continue to rule over the Russian Federation,” he tweeted.
Diaz-Balart did not make a statement on the impeachment vote but did issue a tweet supporting democracy in Venezuela. “The U.S. continues to stand behind Venezuela’s legitimate president @jguaido. Freedom will prevail,” he wrote.
Among candidates, Democratic congressional candidate Cindy Banyai tweeted: “Happy to see progress on the impeachment. Looking forward to a well structured Senate trial. I implore the leadership to allow additional witnesses so we can learn the truth. Every action must be taken to defend our democracy.”