WASHINGTON For the third time in history, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached the president, placing a permanent asterisk next to the name of Donald J. Trump and setting the stage for a U.S. Senate trial on removal.

House lawmakers voted Wednesday evening in favour of impeaching Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of U.S. Congress .

The vote for the article relating to abuse of power was 230-197, with one lawmaker, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), voting as present. Two Democrats , Reps. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), voted against the abuse of power article alongside every Republican.

Democrats accuse the president of corruptly soliciting a foreign government to investigate one of his chief political rivals, former U.S. vice-president Joe Biden , and conditioning US$391 million of security aid on the launch of that investigation.

They also charge Trump with unprecedented, categorical and indiscriminate defiance as the House sought to investigate his behavior. The White House refused to turn over any documents related to the impeachment inquiry, and a number of Trump administration officials ignored subpoenas to testify.

The key evidence supporting Democrats charge is a July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During that call, which took place as U.S. military aid to Ukraine was suspended , Trump asked Zelensky to do us a favour and look into supposed Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. election a debunked conspiracy theory as well as investigating Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Republicans view a rough transcript of the call as exculpatory, while Democrats see it as obviously damning.

In America, no one is above the law, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on the floor Wednesday. Donald J. Trump sacrificed our national security in an effort to cheat in the next election. And for that and his continued efforts to seek foreign interference in our elections, he must be impeached.

Democrats sought to maintain a somber tone. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who wore all black, reported at the beginning of the day that she was sad and said on the floor that Trump gave us no choice.

If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty, Pelosi said. It is tragic that the presidents reckless actions make impeachment necessary.