On Friday, December 13th the House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump. Allegations the President is facing include abuse of power and obstruction of Congress following accusations that he contacted and pressured the Ukraine for help in the upcoming 2020 election. Although President Trump strongly denies that he used his office for personal political gain, a wave of house members have announced their standings on impeachment ahead of a vote by the full House of Representatives that is scheduled to take place this Wednesday, making a total of 194 members planning on voting in support of impeachment proceedings and 167 in opposition.
Democrats:
193 House Democrats have stated that they are planning to vote in favor of the impeachment articles on Wednesday. 11 democrats are undecided and 27 have not provided a response yet. Two Democrats are planning to vote no, the first being Representative Collin Peterson of Minnesota’s 7th congressional district. Peterson says he will likely vote no “unless they come up with something between now and Wednesday.” The other, Representative Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey’s 2nd district announced over the weekend that he will not only vote against the impeachment articles come Wednesday, he is planning on switching his alignment to the Republican party (a decision that prompted nearly all of his staff in Washington to resign) within the next week.

Perhaps in the most vulnerable positions when it comes to reelection, several freshman Democrats have expressed that they will be voting for impeachment, despite the obvious political risks. Freshman Democrats in districts that President Trump won in 2016 face an even more dire risk to their careers, yet have still come forward in support of the impeachment articles. Among such freshmen is South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District’s representative, Joe Cunningham. On Monday Cunningham announced his decision to his constituents, claiming that Republicans have not offered evidence to exonerate Trump so, “This is simply about the rule of law.” Citing it as a difficult decision, Cunningham is putting himself in a vulnerable position for the upcoming congressional election as he represents a district where Republicans have a 10-point advantage. Cunningham told the Post & Courier “If I wanted to do what was easy politically, I would just vote no and move on, but it’s about doing what’s right for our country.” Moderate Democrats in similar positions to Cunningham are Elissa Slotkin, Ben McAdams, Jason Crow, Andy Kim and Abigail Spanberger, who have all recently announced their support of the impeachment articles, receiving rounds of criticism from their constituents.

Republicans:
No House Republicans are planning on supporting the articles of impeachment. 165 have announced that they do not support the articles and 31 have yet to state where they stand. Representative Francis Rooney of Florida has marked himself undecided, stating “I still feel strongly that we need to develop all possible evidence that could bear on such an important decision.” Representative Rick Crawford of Arkansas calls the impeachment articles “A complete hoax.”

What To Expect:
The House Judiciary Committee’s report offers no new allegations or evidence but presents detailed arguments in support of the articles of impeachment. On Wednesday, the House will vote on the articles. A simple majority is needed to pass. Given current polling, the vote is likely to pass. If the vote does pass, then an impeachment trial in the Senate will begin.