Political tribalism and a nation at war with itself over president’s future

It began with a prayer. After the gavel came down at 9am, Father Patrick Conroy, the US House of Representatives chaplain, made his way to the front of the chamber.

“Merciful God,” he called out, dressed in black. “We pause in your presence and ask guidance for the men and women of the people’s House.”

Father Conway prayed for those before him to be given “wisdom and discernment” for the “historic” decision they were to consider – a reference to what lay ahead.

“Help them and help us all to put away any judgments that belong to you and do what we can to live together in harmony,” he concluded.

The words set the sombre tone of the day as congressmen debated something momentous – whether Donald Trump should become the third US president impeached in nearly two and a half centuries.

Before the debate began, there was a final act of preparation. The few dozen congressmen present from the start stood, put their right hand over their heart and pledged the oath of allegiance together. On the ceiling was a stained glass American eagle, bright white and some 10ft wide, ringed by gold stars.

First up was Jim Mcgovern, the Democrat who chairs the House Rules Committee tasked with deciding procedures for the debate. His speech took direct aim at the president. “A successor to the same office as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln betrayed his oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” he said. “These aren’t opinions. These are uncontested facts.”

Tom Cole, his Republican counterpart on the committee, struck back. “[Democrats] have been searching to impeach President Trump since the day he was elected,” Mr Cole said. “The American people deserve better.”

Democrats and Republicans then took it in turns to outline opposing narratives of Mr Trump’s behaviour.

The only consistent was the US Constitution. Either Mr Trump had betrayed America’s founding document and must be removed to protect it – or it was the Democrats who were riding roughshod over the country’s origins.

The president, it appeared, was among them. As politicians discussed his fate on Capitol Hill, he fired off tweets from the White House, bombarding followers with a slew of supportive quotes from allies and missives about the process. As the

[‘Democrats] have been searching to impeach President Trump since the day he was elected’

debate approached noon, the brown leather seats were filling with Democrat congressmen ahead of an address from Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker and the woman who made the decision to pursue impeachment.

She entered the chamber in a dress of funereal black. Ms Pelosi has often said how she prays for the president and takes no joy in impeachment.

Grasping her hands together on the podium, she laid out her argument in an even tone, expressing sadness.

Once done, Democrats leapt to their feet in applause. The few dozen Republicans who had remained looked on passively. It was a division shared across the nation.

One moment of history, one America, but two political tribes who have never looked so far apart, both in the House and in the country beyond.