#Impeach45 was the hashtag that swept the nation across all social media platforms on September 28 after Speaker of the White House Nancy Pelosi announced that she was pushing towards Donald Trump’s impeachment. This called for a formal impeachment inquiry after word that the President of the United States had been using his political power for his own personal gain in the next election in 2020.

This brings us to the question what is impeachment and how does it work? Impeachment is the act in which a government official is charged for multiple or even a singular crime. The White House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for a formal impeachment inquiry on the 45th president of the United States for “betraying” his oath and responsibilities for his country. The crime being that he used his power for his own personal gain in the 2020 elections.

The president is accused of withholding aid from the Ukraine until President Zelensky went through with his investigations on the Bidens.Donald Trump’s political rival  Joe Biden is running for president in the upcoming 2020 elections so any speculation of dirty work on his part could damage his image, thus benefiting Donald Trump’s own campaign. 

Over the past couple of weeks a series of impeachment hearings took place which commenced on September 17, 2019. During these long and grueling hearings there was a lot of back and forth on the Democratic and Republican side with the Democrats expressing how “overwhelming” the evidence was while the Republicans called the whole process a “sham”.

On Wednesday December 19, the House of Representatives finally cast their votes after 6 long hours of debate. The votes were in and the two impeachment articles were voted on, “Article I: Abuse of Power” received 230 votes for Yea and 197 for Nay, and the second article “Article II: Obstruction of Congress” received 229 votes for Yea and 198 votes for Nay. With 216 votes needed to pass, both articles of impeachment were approved by the House of Representatives. Donald Trump has become the 3rd president in U.S history to be impeached.

Impeachment approved by the House of Representatives does not mean that this process is over, and contrary to popular belief impeachment does not mean the President will be removed from office. This case will now go to the Senate where they will then decide whether he will be acquitted or if he will either be removed from office or if he will remain for the rest of his term.