SPOKANE, Wash. — Washington’s seven Democratic representatives and three Republican representatives voted along party lines on a House resolution to formally authorize an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.
The vote on Thursday was 232-196, with all Republicans against the resolution and two Democratic defectors joining them.
Washington Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse voted against the resolution on Thursday, with McMorris Rodgers issuing a statement on social media in response.
Her full statement reads:
"Today I voted against the impeachment inquiry.
For weeks, Democrats have conducted their impeachment meetings behind closed doors. They’ve made it impossible to trust the President will ever get a fair process. This resolution allows Chairman Schiff to keep working in private and ignores the President’s due process, a fundamental right in America. From these secret proceedings to Chairman Adam Schiff falsifying statements, this has been a hyper-partisan approach from the start. I still haven’t seen evidence of an impeachable offense.
Since the President was elected, Democrats have solely focused on impeachment, instead of working in a bipartisan way to solve the real challenges Eastern Washington families face like passing USMCA, lowering prescription drug costs, and fixing a broken immigration system."
Newhouse also released a statement regarding his vote, calling the impeachment inquiry a "flawed, unprecedented process."
“I will not vote to rubberstamp the House Democrats’ closed-door impeachment hearings. The process approved today by House Democrats keeps Members of Congress and the millions of Americans they represent in the dark,” Newhouse said in the statement.
“This resolution greenlights a flawed, unprecedented process that gives Chairman Schiff complete control, continues to limit the ability of Republicans to fully participate in hearings, and denies basic due process rights to the president and his counsel. I voted against the resolution because the American people deserve transparent and fair proceedings," he added.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) voted nay, while the remaining Democratic representatives voted in favor of the resolution.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) also released a statement regarding the resolution:
“Today’s vote moves us into the critically important public phase of our impeachment inquiry, ensuring that the American people will hear all the facts. An impeachment inquiry is one of the most serious duties entrusted to Congress, and it is essential that we now carefully move forward with public hearings, clear rules for a fair process, and due process protections for the President.
This is a solemn and grave moment, one that is absolutely needed based on the evidence we have gathered to date. The President and his acting chief of staff’s own words and testimony offered by officials under oath all paint a stunning picture of a President using the power his office to further his own political interests.
The President of the United States inviting a foreign ally to interfere in our elections—using taxpayer dollars as leverage—is a gross abuse of power and a betrayal of our Constitution, values and national security.
As we move forward, my Republican colleagues must remember their oath of office calls on them to defend the Constitution, not President Trump. It’s our job as the people’s representatives to reaffirm that no one is above the law. The American people are watching."
Idaho’s Republican Reps. Russ Fulcher and Michael K. Simpson voted against the resolution.
The vote laid down the rules as lawmakers transition from weeks of closed-door interviews with witnesses to public hearings and ultimately to possible votes on whether to recommend Trump's removal from office.
The action also took on more than technical meaning, with each party aware that the impeachment effort looms as a defining issue for next year's presidential and congressional campaigns.
Democrats spoke of lawmakers' duty to defend the Constitution, while Republicans cast the process as a skewed attempt to railroad a president whom Democrats have detested since before he took office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.