The president’s Republican defenders in the House and Senate know that the facts are not on their side. They continue to pound on the table and have contorted themselves with arguments about process. They insist that the matter of ignored subpoenas and withheld documents ought to be litigated in court for months, during which time the president would have ample time to continue violating the law by seeking foreign help for his re-election. They ignore his pattern of obstructing Congress and how he places himself shamelessly above the law.

I understand party loyalty. It’s what enables our two-party system to function. But in my 38 years representing Maryland in Congress, I never thought I’d see this system break down to the extent that one party is willing to sacrifice its duty to the Constitution and to the country for the sake of defending its president.

Party loyalty has its place, but partisanship must have its limit. When representatives and senators are asked to defend the very structures of our republican form of government, loyalty to party must yield to a higher obligation.

That is why I will cast my first-ever vote to impeach a president, something I hoped I would never have to do. I will vote to hold this president accountable to the Constitution we both swore to defend. And I will vote to ensure that no future president, Republican or Democrat, can repeat such abuses without consequence.

Democrats did not rush to this conclusion. We were reluctant to wield a tool that the framers intended to be the last line of defense against tyranny without a clear case of impeachable offenses. Democrats rejected moving forward with articles of impeachment against President Trump in three separate votes, in December 2017, January 2018 and July 2019.