Thursday, December 19, 2019

Here’s Who Broke Ranks On The Impeachment Votes

The final impeachment vote tallies are in and the results are slightly different from what we reported immediately after the vote last night.
On Article I, alleging abuse of power, the official vote tally was 229-198. Three Democrats crossed the aisle to vote “no” while no Republicans broke ranks. The three Democrats were Jared Golden (Maine), Collin Peterson (Minn.) and Jeff Van Drew (N.J.). Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) voted present.
Roll Call notes that Peterson is from a strong pro-Trump district while Golden said that he believed that Trump abused power but did not obstruct Congress. Gabbard’s present vote was a protest against “fragmentation and polarity.” Van Drew is rumored to be switching parties to become a Republican.
Three congressmen did not vote on Article I. This included two Republicans, Duncan Hunter (Calif.), who recently announced his resignation after pleading guilty on corruption charges, and John Shimkus (Ill.), who was on a trip to Tanzania to visit his son in the Peace Corps. Duncan was warned to cast any more votes by the House Ethics Committee. The sole Democrat not to vote, Jose Serrano (N.Y.), was hospitalized with Parkinson’s disease. He is not seeking reelection.
The final tally for Article II, alleging obstruction, was identical to Article I.
We initially reported that one Republican voted in favor of the impeachment. However, Jake Sherman of Politico tweeted that Michael Cloud (R-Texas) changed his vote from “yea” to “nay.” Rep. Cloud told the Dallas Morning News that his “yes” vote was due to a clerical error.

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