Just minutes after impeaching President Trump, and just steps from where that historic vote took place, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised House Democrats for upholding their constitutional duty and called on the Senate, and its Republican leaders, to do the same.

Standing with six party leaders beneath a portrait of George Washington in an ornate Capitol room, Pelosi praised the “moral courage” of House Democrats, who used their majority in that chamber to affirm two articles of impeachment against Trump, one for abusing power and another for obstructing a congressional investigation. She called it a “great day” for the U.S. Constitution, though also a sad one for the nation.

Careful not to appear jubilant on the House floor as the articles of impeachment were ratified, the Democratic leaders used their press conference to further argue that Congress had done nothing more than exercise its authority to check the executive branch.

“We have done as the framers would have us do,” said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the House Intelligence Committee chairman and a leader of the impeachment inquiry.

Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, the House Judiciary Committee chairman and another prominent figure in the impeachment effort, put the matter even more bluntly: “A president must not be allowed to become a dictator.”

The next step in the impeachment inquiry is for the two articles to be referred to the Senate, which will then hold a trial, with all 100 senators acting as the jury. That chamber is controlled by Republicans, albeit narrowly. Read more

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Just minutes after impeaching President Trump, and just steps from where that historic vote took place, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised House Democrats for upholding their constitutional duty and called on the Senate, and its Republican leaders, to do the same.