This week on “Face the Nation,” December 22, 2019

Donald Trump Impeached

The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump Wednesday for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, making him just the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.

Democrats accused Mr. Trump of betraying the country for his own political benefit by pressuring the government of Ukraine to pursue investigations into a political rival, Joe Biden, and obstructing a months-long congressional investigation into his actions. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump brought impeachment on himself and described him as a threat to the Constitution.

“It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice,” she said on the House floor.

As for next steps, it is unclear when a trial in the Senate will take place. The speaker said she would not select impeachment managers until she sees a “fair” Senate trial process.

The president’s daughter and adviser, Ivanka Trump, weighed in on her father’s mood one day after the vote, saying he views the process as “just raw partisan politics,” but also left him “energized” ahead of a Senate trial in the new year.

“As are 63 million-plus voters who elected him to office. This is historic, as you note. And in many ways, including the fact that it is the first purely partisan impeachment. In fact, the only thing bipartisan was the vote against proceeding forward,” she told Margaret Brennan in an interview to air on “Face the Nation” later this month.

Some, however, were swayed by the evidence gathered in the House.

Editor-in-chief of the evangelical magazine “Christianity Today” Mark Galli called for Trump to be removed from office in a harsh rebuke of long-enjoyed evangelical support.

Galli decried Trump’s actions as “not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.”

Despite the condemnation by the Congress, House Democrats managed to hand the president a major legislative victory by passing the revised US Mexico Canada trade agreement (USMCA) just one day after the historic vote.

Impeachment also resonated on the 2020 trail as the seven leading Democratic presidential candidates took the debate stage Thursday for one last round before the end of the year.

“Face the Nation” Guest Lineup:

• Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri (@RoyBlunt) Intelligence Committee

• Mark Galli, Editor in chief, Christianity Today (@markgalli)

And, as always, we’ll turn to our political panel for some perspective on the week:

• Ramesh Ponnuru (@paynedc) of the National Review

• Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) of The New York Times, CBS News Political Analyst

• David Sanger (@SangerNY) of The New York Times

How to watch “Face the Nation”

• Date: Sunday, December 22, 2019

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With the latest news and analysis from Washington, don’t miss Margaret Brennan (@margbrennan) this Sunday on “Face the Nation” (@FaceTheNation). 

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