Philly region lawmakers vote along party lines in impeachment of President Trump

President Donald Trump made history on Wednesday when he became the first sitting U.S. president to be impeached twice. 

The House of Representatives voted largely along party lines 232-197 to impeach Trump for inciting the violent insurrection that overtook the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. last week.

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However, 10 House GOP lawmakers joined their Democratic colleagues in voting to impeach Trump. Among those who crossed party lines included Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican.

But all nine lawmakers who represent the Philly region in the House voted along party lines as well to impeach Trump and send the article of impeachment to the floor of the U.S. Senate.

All seven House Democratic lawmakers from the region voted in favor of impeaching Trump.

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, who represents most of Montgomery County and a small part of Berks County in Washington, D.C., is one of nine Democratic lawmakers who has been named an impeachment manager. Impeachment managers are responsible for making the case to the U.S. Senate for a president's removal from office.

The lone two House GOP lawmakers from the region, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Rep. Jeff Van Drew, voted against impeaching Trump.

"Any impeachment proceedings occurring while our country’s priority should be coming together would cause considerable harm towards achieving civility and unifying our country for the betterment of our future," said Fitzpatrick, who represents all of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County in Congress.

Trump's impeachment will now head to the Senate, where a two-thirds majority of senators must vote in favor of impeachment to convict the sitting president.

A vote to convict the president would remove Trump from power and prevent him from running for office again.

Democratic senators are expected to vote in favor of convicting Trump. That group includes Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, as well as Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Bob Menendez from New Jersey.

Several GOP senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, could also vote to convict the outgoing Republican president.

However, it is unclear yet how Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey will vote. The two-term Republican senator has called on Trump to resign and has accused the president of having "committed impeachable offenses," but he has openly questioned whether impeachment was the best course of action in the presidency's final days.

"I don't know whether logistically it's actually really even possible or practical, and I'm not sure it's desirable to attempt to force him out, what a day or two or three prior to the day on which he's going to be finished anyway," Toomey said last Saturday. "So I'm not clear if that's the best path forward."

Trump leaves office next Wednesday, when President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated and sworn in.