Updated at 7:55 p.m.

WASHINGTON – The outcome of the House impeachment debate Wednesday wasn’t in doubt, but that didn’t make it any less historic.

House Republicans stuck by President Donald Trump. But Democrats had more than enough votes to formally accuse him of abusing his office in a scheme to coerce Ukraine to tarnish a political rival, then stonewall Congress by withholding documents and barring testimony from top aides.

After 10 hours of contentious debate, a final chance for each side to shape public opinion ahead of a Senate trial next month, the votes fell neatly on party lines. On abuse of power, it was 230-197. Two Democrats defected. One of those is switching parties.

Three Democrats defected on obstruction, making that tally 229-198. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a Democrat running for president, voted “present” on both counts.

Democrats spent the day reminding voters about the military aid and White House meeting Trump used as leverage with Ukraine, as Republicans leveled countercharges accusing Trump’s foes of pursuing impeachment long before those events surfaced, and trampling the will of voters.

“If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared. "It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary....It is a matter of fact that the president is an ongoing threat to our national security and the integrity of our elections.”

Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Heath, called it a “house of cards impeachment."

“He’ll be the first president to be reelected after being wrongfully impeached,” predicted the former U.S. attorney for East Texas, who emerged this fall as a key Trump defender. “History will record the Democrats’ legacy as a betrayal of the Constitution.”

“There’s no victim,” he said. “Most Americans are probably wishing they could impeach the Democrats. To them I say, you can, next November.”

Trump has repeatedly defended a July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that sparked a whistleblower complaint and then the impeachment inquiry. No fellow Republicans echoed his claim the call was “perfect” during the final debate, even as they fully embraced his depictions of impeachment as a sham, and a shameful exercise in raw partisanship.

As the vote took place, Trump was campaigning at a typically noisy, raucous rally in Battle Creek, Mich., announced two weeks earlier, adding split screen drama to the occasion.

A parade of national security aides and diplomats testified last month that they found Trump’s demands for a corruption investigation aimed at former vice president Joe Biden, the leading Democratic contender for president in 2020, alarming. At the time, Trump had frozen nearly $400 million in aid intended to help Ukraine deter Russian aggression.

“The military aid was released because the president got caught,” Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, argued, taking aim at a favorite GOP talking point — that Trump could not have engaged in misconduct because Ukraine got the nearly $400 million Congress had authorized, and never delivered the Biden probe he sought.

But said Castro, “Getting caught doesn’t get you off the hook. And I ask my colleagues: Is attempted murder a crime? Is attempted robbery a crime? Is attempted extortion and bribery by a president a crime?”

Across the aisle, Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, issued a caustic condemnation of Democrats “and their mainstream media overlords” for a “deliberate and orchestrated plan to overturn a presidential election.”

Another Austin Republican, freshman Rep. Chip Roy, argued that voters should decide Trump’s fate next November. “While my colleagues are free to dislike the president, and while they may reasonably view the infamous phone call and negotiations with Ukrainians as something less than perfect, they are not free to impeach something less than a high crime and misdemeanor," he argued.

“It’s almost as if we’re in two parallel universes” between Democrats looking at the evidence “and this total denial, that it was a perfect call, nothing wrong,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin. "Not only did the president intimidate witnesses, but he intimidated Republicans.”

Trump remains defiant

In a remarkable six-page letter to Pelosi on Tuesday, Trump called the impeachment a “partisan attempted coup." He kept up the invective as the debate played out on C-Span and other networks, complaining by tweet of “ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT.”

SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2019

Polls show a sharp partisan divide over impeachment. Democrats overwhelmingly support it. Republicans don’t. Independents are about evenly split. Overall, more Americans support impeachment than oppose it.

Bill Clinton, impeached in 1998 during his second term, survived a Senate trial, as did Andrew Johnson, impeached in 1868, though Johnson lost his party’s nomination afterward. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, avoiding impeachment for his role in Watergate.

House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., speaks as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Dec. 18, 2019. (House Television via AP / AP)

In 1998, just weeks before the Clinton impeachment, only three in 10 Americans supported the move and his approval rating never dipped below 56%.

These are more polarized times. Trump’s average approval rating of 44% is about as high as it has ever been, with little movement despite a barrage of allegations and round-the-clock news coverage.

"When President Trump conditioned military aid on a personal favor, he harmed America’s national security,” said Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who led the Democrats’ side with intelligence chairman Adam Schiff of California. "And when he demanded that a foreign government target his domestic political rival, he took steps to corrupt our next election. To the Founders, these offenses clearly merited removal from office.”

He needled Republicans for calling impeachment a hoax and a fraud without even trying to refute the testimony and evidence, and without acknowledging his refusal to allow top aides to testify, including acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security advisor John Bolton.

“Not one word of substantive defense of the president’s conduct," Nadler said one way or another, over and over throughout the debate.

“Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats gave this President.” - Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga) #impeachment @realDonaldTrump — ReenaCBS (@reenaninan) December 18, 2019

The military aid was released because the President got caught.



But getting caught doesn’t get you off the hook.



The only question now is whether we will find the moral courage to stand up for our country, and impeach the President of the United States.#DefendOurDemocracy pic.twitter.com/2UCt29RqEw — Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) December 18, 2019

Rep. Will Hurd, R-San Antonio, lamented the impugning of motives by each side. “Today a dangerous precedent will be set: Impeachment becoming a partisan weapon….Can this chamber put down our swords?”

Moments later, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, argued that Democrats used impeachment to deflect attention from Obama-era abuses related to the FBI inquiry into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump 2016 campaign. “It will be used for political battles and this country’s end is now in sight,” he said.

Nadler blistered him, though not by name: “I am deeply concerned that any member of the House would spout Russian propaganda.”

Gohmert demanded a retraction. The presiding Democrat ignored him.

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert reacted angrily after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler referred to his speech as spouting ‘Russian propaganda on the floor of the House’ pic.twitter.com/EIuXWcNrj0 — Reuters (@Reuters) December 19, 2019

Texans polarized

All 23 Texas Republicans opposed impeachment, including Hurd, a former CIA undercover officer and one of Trump’s most outspoken GOP critics.

By the time the Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment last Friday morning on a party-line vote, all but three Texans had made up their minds. Two of the holdouts fell in line within hours: freshmen Reps. Colin Allred of Dallas and Lizzie Fletcher of Houston. Both are GOP targets next year, after ousting veteran Republicans in the 2018 midterms.

That left just one uncommitted Texan, Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar, one of about a dozen Democrats nationwide who had kept their constituents in suspense until the final hours. A rare centrist, he bristled for weeks at accusations from a progressive primary challenger, Jessica Cisneros, that he was soft on Trump. Two hours into the debate Wednesday, he said he was now persuaded that Trump compromised national security and obstructed Congress’ inquiry into his actions.

“This process brings me no joy,” he said.

The months-long fight put a spotlight on a number of Texas lawmakers.

Throughout the final debate, Republicans cited efforts by Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, to impeach the president starting just four months after he took office, and a comment earlier this year expressing fear that if Democrats were too timid to impeach him, Trump would win reelection.

Republicans insisted that proved a purely political motive for impeachment, though Green’s actual point was that Democrats should ignore fears of political blowback and do the right thing.

"I’ve never said the president ought to be impeached for impeachment’s sake,” Green said Wednesday off the floor, emphasizing that he would use impeachment sparingly, and only when a president violates the Constitution and puts the republic in jeopardy. “The Republicans rarely mention the rationale, because that rationale is rooted in the president’s bigotry, racism, xenophobia, Islamaphobia, homophobia, anti-Semitism.”

Doggett, the Austin Democrat, accused retiring GOP lawmakers of rejecting impeachment only to protect their prospects as lobbyists. They “don’t want to cut off their future opportunities on K Street by being cross with this administration," he said.

Rep. Bill Flores of Bryan, one of a half-dozen Texas Republicans calling it quits in 2020 as part of what Democrats dub a “Texodus,” took umbrage at that.

“Doggett is smoking crack. The reason the Republicans are united against it is because there is no factual evidence to support impeachment. This is a witch hunt that started within a few minutes of the president’s inauguration,” he said.

Senate acquittal is likely

The outcome in the Senate is not in doubt.

Removing an impeached president from office requires conviction by a 2/3 vote, or 67 of 100 senators. Republicans hold 53 seats, meaning that 20 would have to defect. A trial is expected to begin in January.

Texas’ senators, both Republicans, are adamantly anti-impeachment.

Sen. John Cornyn, speaking with Texas reporters with four hours to go in the House debate, distanced himself from Trump’s claim of a “perfect” call. “As far as the president’s conduct, it’s not something I would’ve done. But it’s certainly not impeachable,” he said.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a law clerk to the last Supreme Court chief justice to preside over an impeachment trial, has called the House inquiry a “kangaroo court," a central theme of the GOP counterarguments.

Emotions ran high all day.

One conservative Republican from Georgia, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, likened the impeachment to the crucifixion, asserting that “Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats gave this President.”

As the vote neared, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the GOP whip, drew boos from the Democratic side by declaring, “They don’t just hate Donald Trump. They hate the 63 million Americans who voted for this president, the forgotten men and women of this country.”

Moments later, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland took his turn. If Trump’s behavior isn’t impeachable, he argued, summing up the Democrats’ case, then the president is above the law and American democracy has transformed into a monarchy or worse, a dictatorship.

"Democrats did not wish for this impeachment,” he said.

“Oh come on,” blurted someone on the Republican side.