House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Monday that the House would vote to formally approve impeachment procedure in the Trump impeachment inquiry.
Pelosi said the full House would vote on the process on Thursday, marking the first House vote on impeachment.
Democrats said the vote would establish the process for holding public hearings, transferring information to the Judiciary Committee (which ultimately considers the articles of impeachment), and providing due process for the White House, CNN reported.
House plans to vote on impeachment by Christmas:
House Democrats are planning to hold public impeachment hearings by Thanksgiving and hope to vote on whether to impeach Trump by Christmas, according to CNN.
Democrats are expected to hold another one to two weeks of closed-door depositions before starting Intelligence Committee hearings as early as the second week of November.
The Judiciary Committee may opt to hold it own public hearings before voting on impeachment.
Republicans still complaining:
Republicans had been demanding that Pelosi hold a formal impeachment inquiry vote for weeks, but her announcement did not end the criticism.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the House resolution “proves everything we were saying was correct,” according to The Hill.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said that “it sounds like all they’re trying to do is codify the Soviet-style impeachment process that they’ve been running where they don’t let both side call witnesses.”
"It's all Adam Schiff's personal show to try to build a case of innuendo because they don't have any real facts,” he claimed, despite copious damning evidence from multiple Trump administration officials.
