The House Judiciary Committee just approved articles of impeachment against President Trump

Both articles, on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, will go to the full House for a vote next week.

The House Judiciary Committee voted to approve two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump Friday — paving the way for votes in the full House of Representatives next week that could make Trump only the third president in history to be impeached.

Both articles — the first charging Trump with abuse of power, and the second charging him with obstruction of Congress — were approved by the committee on party-line votes, with all 23 Democrats voting in favor and all 17 Republicans voting against (Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) missed the vote because he was recovering from a heart procedure).

That outcome was no surprise, since the Judiciary Committee is generally filled with staunch liberals and conservatives, and since opinion on Trump’s impeachment and the Ukraine scandal has fallen along partisan lines in the House.

The committee’s vote came after a lengthy, three-part hearing — opening statements Wednesday night, a marathon all-day debate on amendments to the articles Thursday, and a final vote Friday. Watch it here:

Throughout the hearing, Democrats spoke of their concern over President Trump’s alleged abuse of power in the Ukraine scandal, and Republicans either complained about process, questioned the evidence, or outright argued that what Trump did wasn’t so bad after all.

The hearing, billed as a “markup” of the articles of impeachment, wasn’t really about deliberation — no serious amendments were proposed or discussed, and Republicans’ main goal was to attempt to slow things down with dilatory tactics.

The first true test for the impeachment push will occur on the House floor next week, when more than two dozen moderate Democrats representing districts Trump won will finally have to decide: Do they vote for impeachment, or against it?