Sharply divided House approves Democrats' impeachment rules

Democrats swept a rules package for their impeachment probe of President Donald Trump through a divided House, as the chamber's first vote on the investigation highlighted the partisan breach the issue has only deepened.

By 232-196, lawmakers on Thursday approved the procedures they'll follow as weeks of closed-door interviews with witnesses evolve into public committee hearings and almost certainly votes on whether the House should recommend Trump's removal.

All voting Republicans opposed the package. Every voting Democrat but two supported it.

Underscoring the pressure Trump has heaped on his party's lawmakers, he tweeted, "Now is the time for Republicans to stand together and defend the leader of their party against these smears."
The House is at least weeks away from deciding whether to vote on actually impeaching Trump. If it does, the Senate would hold a trial on whether to remove him from office. That GOP-run chamber seems highly likely to keep him in the White House. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., likened Democrats to a "cult," accusing them of bouncing from "one outlandish conspiracy theory to another."