President Donald Trump is now almost certain to become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a press conference on Thursday that she is formally asking the House Judiciary Committee to draft articles of impeachment against Trump over his actions toward Ukraine, saying "the president leaves us no choice but to act."
The Trump re-election campaign said in a statement: “We are less than a year away from Election Day 2020 and Democrats can’t possibly explain to the American people why they want to take the decision of who should be president out of the hands of voters," adding that Democrats "should just get on with it so we can have a fair trial in the Senate and expose The Swamp for what it is."
Pelosi, who earlier this year had counseled her caucus against impeaching the president over obstruction of justice allegations related to the Russia investigation, now says that the evidence and witness testimony from weeks of impeachment hearings are "uncontested."
"The president abused his power for his own personal, political benefit" and "seriously violated the Constitution," she said.
The announcement means that it is now increasingly likely that articles of impeachment will be drafted and voted on before the House leaves for its end-of-the-year recess, as some Democrats had previously indicated, with a Senate trial possible in the beginning of 2020.
More than 90% of the people killed by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in western Afghanistan last weekend were women and children, U.N. officials reported Thursday.
Millions of Social Security recipients will get a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, far less than this year's historic boost and reflecting moderating consumer prices.
Palestinians in Gaza lined up outside bakeries on Thursday after spending the night in pitch darkness surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods, as Israel launched new airstrikes and said it was preparing for a possible ground invasion.
Republicans on Wednesday nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker and will now try to unite around the conservative in a floor vote to elect him after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the post.
The number of U.S. citizens confirmed to have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war has risen to at least 22 with at least 17 more Americans unaccounted for, the State Department said Wednesday. That's an increase in the death toll from 14 the day before, in a war that has already claimed more than 2,200 lives on both sides.
