Dec. 18, 2019, marked the day that the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump.
The House passed two articles of impeachment: an abuse of power charge and an obstruction of Congress charge.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi decided to hold the charges rather than send them to the Senate for trial.
"Holding the articles, especially during the Christmas holidays, was a good idea," said Otis Sanford, Helen Hardin Chair of Excellence. "It also allowed for other information to come out."
Jan. 10, Pelosi announced that she would be sending forward the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said in December that the impeachment was "the predetermined end of a partisan crusade that began before President Trump was even nominated, let alone sworn in."
After receiving the articles of impeachment Jan 15, McConnell began preparing the rules of the Senate impeachment trial.
Both the House impeachment committee and the defense for President Trump have three eight hour sessions to make their case for or against removing the president.
After the full six days of argument, the Senate will vote on how to proceed in the trial, including deciding which, if any, further witnesses or documents should be seen.
Leader McConnell has indicated that the Republican-held Senate would likely dismiss the charges. Still, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Pelosi have been calling for witnesses to come to trial.
"It seems unlikely that we will see witnesses in the Senate trial," said Eric Groenendyk, a professor of political science at the University of Memphis. "But Democrats only need a few Republicans to flip and support calling witnesses."
Former Secretary of Defense John Bolton was subpoenaed for testimony by the House of Representatives and challenged that subpoena in court.
Bolton has signaled that he would testify in front of the Senate without resistance, citing the lengthy wait for judicial decision.
"You can make the argument that the Democrats hastily did this and should have taken it through the courts," Sanford said. "As someone who has covered the courts as a reporter in my time, I know how slow the judicial process is; it would take into the middle or end of next year, right in the middle of an election."
Trump has referred to the impeachment as a hoax and has nicknamed Pelosi "Crazy Nancy" among calls to send the articles to the Senate.
The day after the impeachment vote, Trump sent out this tweet:
"I got Impeached last night without one Republican vote being cast with the Do-Nothing Dems on their continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history. Now the Do-Nothing Party wants to do nothing with the Articles & not deliver them to the Senate, but it's the Senate's call!"
Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang spoke about the impeachment at the Dec. 19 Democratic presidential debate.
"What we have to do is we have to stop being obsessed over impeachment, which, unfortunately, strikes many Americans like a ballgame where you know what the score is going to be, and actually start digging in and solving the problems that got Donald Trump elected in the first place," Yang said.
Impeachment is a risky action from the political party that pursues it and often is decided by public opinion.
"Impeachments have typically been quite partisan," Groenendyk said.
"The Nixon case is an interesting comparison, because the public did not support impeachment until well-into the process, and Republicans in Congress continued to stand behind him. As evidence mounted and public support for impeachment shifted, Republicans in Congress finally turned against him. As soon as Republicans in Congress turned, he resigned."
Lauren Guizlo, a junior elementary education major with a minor in political science, shared her thoughts on the impeachment.
"It was kind of inevitable, with so many investigations going on that Trump would be impeached eventually," Guizlo said. "Their determination over the past four years has been very consistent. We have been very divided, and I know that for some, the impeachment has been a great thing. However, it didn't accomplish a lot besides making a statement. Instead of making statements, we need to unite; Donald Trump needs to work with the left, and Nancy Pelosi needs to work with the right."
