Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, left, and Doug Collins, R-Georgia, during a hearing on amendments to two articles of impeachment before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM Media

The House Judiciary Committee on Friday voted in favor of two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, setting the stage for him to become the third U.S. president in the nation's history to be impeached.

Both votes were 23-17, along party lines, approving articles of impeachment on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

During a contentious 18-hour proceeding that stretched over three days, Democrats said the evidence shows that Trump pushed for Ukraine to investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, while he withheld military aid, and then stonewalled the House's efforts to investigate it.

The House is expected to vote on the articles of impeachment next week.

Only Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton have been impeached. Both were acquitted during a Senate trial, the same fate Trump is expected to face in the GOP-controlled chamber. President Richard Nixon resigned when it became evident that he would be impeached and removed from office.

"The central issue of this impeachment is the corruption of our institutions that safeguard democracy, by this president," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said.

"No president is supposed to be a dictator in the United States," Nadler continued. "When I hear colleagues of mine arguing that Congress is unpopular and therefore obstruction of Congress is a good thing, it shows terrible ignorance, a lack of care for our institution, for our democracy, for our form of government, for our liberties."

"I, for one, will do everything I can to protect our liberties, our democracy, our free and fair elections, and the separation of powers that says Congress and the president and the judiciary check each other, and nobody can be a dictator," he added.

Republicans charged the House did not have enough evidence to impeach Trump. They argued that Democrats should have gone to court to enforce their subpoenas for testimony and documents needed in the investigation, rather than move forward with what they described as a "wafer thin" record.

They further claimed that Democrats have long sought to impeach Trump, and that the Ukrainian allegations are a front for their actions.

"The lie is that the sham impeachment is OK because the threat is so real and so urgent and so imminent," Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said during his opening statement. "The big lie is that political expediency is honorable and justifiable, and history has shown that to be untrue and dangerous."

Democrats refuted those claims, saying Trump represents a continuing danger and will prevent the United States from having legitimate elections in 2020.

And they challenged Republicans to consider their own legacy, if they don't vote to impeach Trump.

The consideration of the articles of impeachment began Wednesday night, as each member of the Judiciary Committee delivered opening statements.

And it carried over into Friday, as the members debated the articles of impeachment.

Several members of the House Judiciary Committee noted their past participation in those impeachment proceedings. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who was a staff attorney on the Judiciary panel for the Nixon impeachment and was on the committee for the Clinton impeachment, looked to the past as she urged lawmakers to approve the articles.

Lofgren pulled out a copy of the Oct. 8 letter from White House counsel Pat Cipollone, in which Cipollone said the Trump White House wouldn't cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.

"This isn't something that needs to be adjudicated by the third branch, the judicial branch, because there's no privilege being asserted here. It's simply 'no.' That's never happened before," the California Democrat said. Lofgren later entered the letter into the record.

And Rep. Madeleine Dean, a freshman Democrat, noted that the Constitution grants the House the "sole" power of impeachment, "not shared with the executive."

"It's a civics lesson," Dean said. "Don't let the other side, who have such talented constitutional attorneys over there, distract you."

"We do not need permission from the president, we do not need permission from the courts. In fact, we have an obligation to do our job under this simple, smart document," she continued, holding up a copy of the Constitution.

But Republicans on the committee, some of whom were also present for prior impeachments, insisted that the courts were the proper vehicle to handle the fight between the House and the White House, and there was too little evidence to advance the articles.

"Instead of go to the court—which you're supposed to do, they're kind of the referee between the legislative and executive branches—they said, 'no, we're not going to go to court. We're just going to impeach this guy,' which is what they've wanted to do since he got inaugurated," said GOP Rep. Steve Chabot, who was a House manager during the Clinton impeachment.

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