Up next: Whether to draft articles of impeachment

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democratic lawmakers to reach their own conclusions on impeachment of President Donald Trump during a closed- door huddle Wednesday, according to a senior Democratic aide.

The House Judiciary Committee is debating whether to draft articles of impeachment against Trump, similar to charges laid out in an indictment. The committee will then vote on each article, a process that could spill into next week, before forwarding those that pass to the full House.

It’s still not clear what those specific articles will be. Democratic talking points from the closed meeting Wednesday describe Trump’s actions as an abuse of power that damaged national security and “undermined the integrity of our next election.”

Mueller findings considered

Democrats have discussed articles focused not just on Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine that triggered the current inquiry but also findings by special counsel Robert Mueller earlier this year and the president’s refusal to cooperate with the congressional investigation.

House leaders are looking at conducting a full House vote by Dec. 21 before the traditional holiday break begins. But that could be difficult given all the other business on lawmakers’ plates, notably debate and passage of several spending bills to keep the government open.

Examining the numbers

All it would take for Trump to be impeached would be House approval of at least one article, a bar that House leaders believe they can cross. They would need at least 216 votes for passage; Democrats control 233 seats and Republicans 197. In addition, the lone independent in the House, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, supports impeachment. There are four vacancies.

Each article of impeachment the House passes will be forwarded to the Republican- controlled Senate, which must hold a trial.

If the House approves articles of impeachment, the Republican- led Senate is expected to hold a trial in January. But Senate Majority Leader Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., has said he “can’t imagine a scenario” where 67 senators – the minimum required to remove a president – would back such a step. Doing so would require at least 20 Republicans to break from the party.

Nicholas Wu

Pelosi

Mueller