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You are here: Home / House of Representatives / It’s Impeachment Day

It’s Impeachment Day

December 18, 2019 at 6:37 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “At 9 a.m., the House will gavel in, and soon thereafter, it will proceed to impeachment. The House first has to debate the ‘rule,’ which sets the guidelines for debate — we expect that procedural vote at some time in the 10 a.m. hour. The House will then move to six hours of debate on impeachment — a very long time compared with other legislative matters. That time is equally divided between the minority and majority. Watch out for Republicans to pull some procedural maneuvers, and ask for unrelated votes, which would elongate the process.”

“Impeachment needs a simple majority of those present and voting to pass. The House has four vacancies, so if everyone is present and voting, 216 is the magic number, not 218.”

“This is just a guess but it’s looking like it will be a late night. Votes could be in the 7-8 p.m. neighborhood — if not later. We can’t imagine they’ll allow themselves to vote too late, but there is the potential for a bizarre split-screen effect, with Democrats (and Justin Amash) voting to impeach the president while he whips up the crowd in Battle Creek, Mich.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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