United States Capitol building
United States Capitol buildingiStock

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved two articles of impeachment that charge President Donald Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors.

The articles, which charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, were passed out of the committee along strict party lines, with 23 Democrats voting to send the measures to the full House, which is expected to approve them next week, noted The Hill.

All 17 panel Republicans, meanwhile, united against both articles, arguing that the charges rested on thin evidence and that Democrats proceeding with their rapid impeachment push will set a dangerous precedent in the years ahead.

The votes come two days after the panel began its debate and the morning after Democrats enraged Republicans by abruptly canceling an expected vote that would have taken place very late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

Democrats signaled that they wanted to prevent Republicans from arguing they had approved the articles of impeachment in the dead of night and when no Americans were watching.

The partisan vote came after more than 14 hours of feisty debate on Thursday over a series of Republican amendments seeking to scrub Democrats’ impeachment articles that raised allegations about Trump’s contacts with Ukraine, noted The Hill.

In comparison to that slog, Friday's votes were lightning fast: Committee chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler introduced them, one by one, shortly after 10:00 a.m., and he gaveled the hearing closed less than 10 minutes later. Almost no one spoke, except to cast their vote.

The White House dismissed Friday's committee vote, saying Trump looks forward to a "fair" trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.

"This desperate charade of an impeachment inquiry in the House Judiciary Committee has reached its shameful end," White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement issued shortly after the vote. "The President looks forward to receiving in the Senate the fair treatment and due process which continues to be disgracefully denied to him by the House."

Democrats allege Trump used a White House meeting and nearly $400 million in US aid to Ukraine as leverage to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open two investigations that would benefit him politically, including one into the son of his 2020 political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

They also accused him of obstructing Congress during their subsequent investigation of that episode.

The White House has made clear that Trump “wants to have a trial in the Senate because it’s clearly the only chamber where he can expect fairness and receive due process under the Constitution.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)