周四，两名民主党人——众议员杰夫·范·德鲁(纽约民主党)和科林·彼得森(明尼苏达州民主党)——脱离党内队伍，投票反对众议院正式授权对唐纳德·特朗普总统进行弹劾调查的决议。
这最终投票当时是232票对196票，大部分是按照党派路线，众议员贾斯汀·阿玛什和民主党一起投票。在成为第一个也是唯一一个支持弹劾的共和党人后，他于今年早些时候成为独立党人。没有共和党人投票赞成这项决议。
该决议列出了被裁定的理由将如何举行公开听证会并为通过调查收集的证据如何传递给司法委员会以及共和党的传讯权和特朗普的正当程序权设定了参数。
范德鲁和彼得森是唯一不支持众议院调查的民主党人。摇摆区的四名温和的新生成员——缅因州的贾里德·戈尔登、纽约的安东尼·布林迪西、俄克拉荷马州的肯德拉·霍恩和南卡罗莱纳州的乔·坎宁安——投票赞成这项决议，这表明他们支持这项调查。罗恩·金德·威斯康星，一位自20世纪90年代末进入国会的民主党议员，也投了赞成票。
坎宁安有拒绝这个想法投票意味着他支持调查，因为调查以规则和程序为中心，以提高透明度。
范德鲁是一名温和的新生，他在2018年颠覆了特朗普选区。长期以来，他一直反对弹劾程序，因为他担心此举会进一步分裂华盛顿，并可能在明年的选举中适得其反。他告诉我新闻周刊本周早些时候，乌克兰丑闻的证据可能永远达不到他弹劾的门槛。
范·德鲁告诉记者:“如果你真的客观地看待这件事，很有可能:他会在这里被弹劾，然后他们会去参议院，他会被证明是无辜的。”新闻周刊。“所以，他仍将是总统，他将能够到处说，‘我被证明是无辜的，因为我没有被弹劾。’"
彼得森自1991年以来一直在国会任职，但特朗普在2016年以30个百分点赢得了他所在的选区。在投票后的一份声明中，这位长期的立法者说弹劾程序是“无可救药的党派性”。但是，尽管彼得森到目前为止对闭门庭外取证“严重关切”，但他“怀疑”他们会“有一个公开、透明和公平的程序”
“今天的投票既没有必要，也被媒体和共和党人广泛曲解为弹劾投票，”他继续说道。"在所有事实都陈述出来之前，我不会做出弹劾的决定。"
秋天的树叶于10月30日在DC华盛顿美国国会大厦前展出。
共和党人反对弹劾程序，无情地批评他们私下进行调查的同事，不允许他们传唤自己的证人，不允许总统的律师在场，也不通过投票授权调查。
民主党人反驳说，在弹劾程序的最初阶段，这些步骤是正常的，不需要举行投票来展开调查。
投票前，议员们在众议院发言，共和党发起攻击，民主党为自己辩护。
“众议院情报委员会已经不存在了，”情报委员会的最高共和党众议员德文·努内斯说。"我们现在在国会大厦地下室有一个成熟的弹劾委员会。"
弹劾调查由情报主席亚当·希夫(民主党-共和党)牵头，共和党人指责他在国会大厦地下室的一个安全房间秘密进行调查的最初步骤，违反了众议院的规定。作为一种指责和努力的形式，特朗普可能对此表示赞同，本月早些时候，几十名共和党成员冲进房间，暂时关闭了一次证人采访。
监督委员会的高级成员吉姆·乔丹说:“试图在一个虚假的过程中打上一条丝带并不会使它变得更虚假。”。“这是什么决议？这给了他们更大的权力在国会大厦地下室的地堡里进行秘密诉讼。”
最高司法共和党众议员道格·柯林斯建议，他的委员会，也就是起草弹劾条款的小组，已经被“中立化”和“边缘化”，因为只有情报、监督和外交事务的成员才被允许参加闭门作证。
民主党人极力为他们的调查和调查过程辩护。他们强调了共和党人对调查过程的关注，而不是对其揭露的乌克兰丑闻潜在不当行为的指控。
众议院议长南希·佩洛西说:“可悲的是，这不是任何欢乐或安慰的理由。”。“这是非常庄严的事情，是祈祷的事情。我们必须收集如此多的信息才能进入下一步。”
接下来将会发生什么以及何时开始公开听证仍不得而知，因为弹劾调查人员继续进行私下取证。
希夫说:“这项决议为我们下一阶段的调查奠定了基础，在这一阶段，美国人民将有机会直接听取证人的证词。”。“我们将继续以我们的任务应得的严肃目的进行调查，因为这是我们的职责，也因为没有人能凌驾于法律之上。”
THESE ARE THE TWO DEMOCRATS WHO BROKE WITH THEIR PARTY IN THE HOUSE IMPEACHMENT VOTE
Two Democrats broke from party ranks Thursday—Reps. Jeff Van Drew (D-NY) and Collin Peterson (D-MN)—to vote against the House resolution that formally authorizes an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
The final vote was 232 to 196 and was mostly along party lines, with Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI) voting with Democrats. He became an Independent earlier this year after coming out as the first and only Republican to support impeachment. No Republican voted for the resolution.
The resolution lays out the ruled for how public hearings will be conducted and sets parameters for how the evidence gathered through the investigation will be relayed to the Judiciary Committee, as well as for Republicans' subpoena power and Trump's due process rights.
Van Drew and Peterson are the only Democrats who do not back the chamber's inquiry. Four moderate, freshmen members in swing districts who had been eyed as hold-outs—Jared Golden of Maine, Anthony Brindisi of New York, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma and Joe Cunningham of South Carolina—voted for the resolution, a sign they support the investigation. Ron Kind of Wisconsin, a Democratic holdout who's been in Congress since the late 1990s, also voted yes.
Cunningham has rejected the notion the vote means he backs the inquiry because it was centered on rules and process to increase transparency.
Van Drew is a moderate freshman who flipped a Trump district in 2018. He's long been against impeachment proceedings because he said he feared the move could further divide Washington and potentially backfire on the party in next year's election. He told Newsweek earlier this week that evidence from the Ukraine scandal may never reach his threshold for impeachment.
"The odds are if you really look at it objectively: He'll be impeached here, they'll then go to the Senate, he'll be vindicated," Van Drew told Newsweek. "So, he will still be the president and he will be able to go around and say, 'I have been vindicated because I was not impeached.'"
Peterson has served in Congress since 1991, but Trump won his district by 30 points in 2016. In a statement following his vote,the longtime lawmaker said the impeachment process is "hopelessly partisan." But while he has "serious concerns" with the closed-door depositions thus far, Peterson is "skeptical" they'll "have a process that his open, transparent and fair."
"Today's vote is both unnecessary and widely misrepresented in the media and by Republicans as a vote on impeachment," he continued. "I will not make a decision on impeachment until all the facts have been presented."
Fall foliage is on display in front of the U.S. Capitol on October 30 in Washington, DC.
Republicans have opposed the impeachment process, relentlessly criticizing their colleagues across the aisle for conducting the investigation in private, not allowing them to summon their own witnesses or allowing the president's counsel to be present and not authorizing the inquiry by way of a vote.
Democrats have countered these steps are normal in the initial portion of impeachment proceedings, and that holding a vote to open an inquiry is not needed.
Members spoke on the House floor before the vote where Republicans lobbed attacks and Democrats defended themselves.
"The House Intelligence Committee has ceased to exist," said Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee. "We now have a full-fledged impeachment committee in the basement of the Capitol."
The impeachment inquiry has been spearheaded by Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), who Republicans have accused of breaking House rules by operating the initial steps of the inquiry in secrecy in a secure room within the Capitol building's basement. As a form of rebuke and an effort that Trump likely viewed favorably, dozens of GOP members stormed the room earlier this month and temporarily shut down a witness interview.
"Trying to put a ribbon on a sham process doesn't make it any less of a sham," said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking member of the Oversight Committee. "What is this resolution? It gives them more power to run a secret proceeding in a bunker in the basement of the Capitol."
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the top Republican on Judiciary, suggested his committee, which would be the panel to draft articles of impeachment, has "been neutered" and "sidelined" because only members of Intelligence, Oversight and Foreign Affairs are allowed to attend the closed-door depositions.
Democrats vehemently defended their inquiry and the process in which it's been conducted. They highlighted Republicans' focus on the process of the investigation rather than the allegations of potential wrongdoing with relation to the Ukraine scandal it's revealed.
"Sadly, this is not any cause for any glee or comfort," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "This is something that is very solemn, that is something prayerful. And that we have to gather so much information to take us to this next step."
What will immediately occur next and when public hearings will begin is still unknown, as impeachment investigators continue to conduct private depositions.
"This resolution sets the stage for the next phase of our investigation, one in which the American people will have the opportunity to hear from the witnesses firsthand," Schiff said. "We will continue to conduct this inquiry with the seriousness of purpose that our task deserves because it is our duty, and because no one is above the law."
