Six years ago today, on Dec. 18, 2019, the US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump, marking the first impeachment of his presidency and making him only the third president in American history to be impeached.
The House adopted two articles of impeachment following weeks of hearings and debate tied to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
The first article, abuse of power, passed 230–197, with one member voting “present.” The second article, obstruction of Congress, passed 229–198. The votes were almost entirely along party lines. No Republicans voted in favor of either article. Most Democrats voted yes, though there were a handful of defections: two Democrats voted no on both articles, one Democrat voted yes on the first article but no on the second, and one voted “present” on the abuse of power charge.
The impeachment stemmed from a whistleblower complaint regarding a July 2019 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Democrats alleged Trump abused his office by withholding congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine while pressuring Ukrainian officials to investigate then–Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Democrats characterized the actions as soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 election, while Trump denied wrongdoing and argued the impeachment was politically motivated.
The Republican-controlled Senate held a trial in January and early February 2020. On Feb. 5, 2020, the Senate voted to acquit Trump on both articles. The abuse of power charge failed 48–52, and obstruction of Congress failed 47–53. No witnesses were called during the trial. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was the lone Republican to vote to convict, doing so on the abuse of power article.
Trump completed his term and later described the impeachment as an attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election.
Just over a year after his first impeachment, Trump became the first president to be impeached twice.
On Jan. 13, 2021, one week after the Jan. 6 breach of the US Capitol and one week before Trump left office, the House impeached him on a single article: incitement of insurrection. The House was controlled by Democrats under then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
That House vote was 232–197. All Democrats present voted in favor, joined by 10 Republicans, including then–House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney. Four Republicans did not vote.
The Senate trial began Feb. 9, 2021, after Trump had already left office, and concluded on Feb. 13. The Senate voted 57–43 to convict, falling 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. All 50 Democrats voted guilty, joined by seven Republicans, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Trump was acquitted, but regardless, was already out of office.
As of Dec. 18, 2025, Trump has not been impeached a third time. However, several Democratic lawmakers in the 119th Congress have introduced impeachment resolutions, including H.Res. 353 filed by Rep. Shri Thanedar of Michigan, which contained seven proposed articles of impeachment. Rep. Al Green and additional Democratic members have produced resolutions such as H.Res. 415, H.Res. 537, and H.Res. 939.
None of those measures has advanced to a House vote or resulted in impeachment. With Republicans controlling the House, the resolutions remain introduced proposals only.
The two impeachments of Donald Trump remain unprecedented in American history.
4 thoughts on “On this day in 2019: House impeaches President Trump for the first time”
Never has a President been more deserving. Third time’s a charm.
I think radical Lefties have given up on impeachment and have taken things up a notch through assassination attempts but have failed miserably….unless you still think “third times a charm” for that as well. Careful with that one as the recruits dont last long.
Attention is on current republican failures and their bleak future post Trump. This hides the utter contempt Americans have for the democrat party. The d’s are out of ideas, out of integrity, and are saddled by the hard left. Both r’s and d’s are no longer fit for purpose and only serve their donors. This country is likely headed towards revolution.
Lisa seems to stick better with the losers than her home states preference.