US President Donald Trump faces impeachment vote

The United States House of Representatives will be voting on impeaching President Donald Trump.

Trump is being accused of pressuring the Ukraine to dig up damaging information on one of his main Democratic challengers, Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Representatives of the house from the Democratic and Republican party have begun a day of speeches and votes, likely ending with the third presidential impeachment in US history.

Democrats have argued that Trump delayed the delivery of military aid to the Ukraine, in an attempt to force the country to open a probe into his main 2020 re-election rival.

Republicans have called the impeachment process as a politically motivated farce.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote along more or less strict party lines to send the matter to the Senate for trial.

The impeachment process was kicked-off in September, after a formal complaint for a whistle-blower, an unnamed intelligence official, wrote a letter expressing concern about Trump’s call with the Ukrainian President.

Once the vote is cast among the house and is in favour of the two motions of impeachment, the ball will then pass into the senate’s court in January.

In January two congressman who will be selected this week, will appear in the senate and press the case for Trump’s removal from office.

The senate acting as a de-facto jury will vote on the verdict once it hears all arguments.

A two-thirds majority of senators will be needed to vote in favour of the motion, if Trump is to be removed from office.

Donald Trump is the fourth president after Democrats Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, and Republican Richard Nixon to face a house vote on impeachment. He will be the third president to be impeached if the vote passes, after Nixon had resigned before facing the house vote.