Welcome to Friday, November 1st, urbans and rurals...

@&!# just got realer.

The House of Representatives on Thursday voted 232-196, largely along party-lines, to formalize the process of its inquiry into whether President Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses. 

The resolution was opposed by all Republicans in attendance and two Democrats: Reps. Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ) and Collin Peterson (D-MN). The rest of the Democratic caucus voted in favor of the resolution, as did the House’s lone Independent lawmaker, Rep. Justin Amash (I-MI).

Shortly before the vote was taken, Republican Rep. Ross Spano of Florida, warned:  "A yes vote on this resolution today gives a stamp of approval to a process that has been damaged beyond all repair and a blatant and obvious coup to unseat a sitting president of the United States."

Do you support the House's impeachment inquiry?

On the Radar

So Now What?

Now that the House has voted on a resolution to formalize the impeachment inquiry, the stage is set for the next phase of the impeachment hearing: going public.

Before we get to that, here's some of what the resolution does:

• Directs six House committees to continue their ongoing investigations into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to impeachment Trump
• Sets up how hearings will work - The Judiciary Committee is authorized to allow for the participation of the president and his legal counsel, in addition to other rules it deems necessary for the “fair and efficient conduct” of hearings.
• Sets up some authority for the GOP - Republicans can try to subpoena witnesses and documents, but Democrats can vote those recommendations down with a committee vote.

Previously, interviews with witnesses happened behind closed doors, which (R)s had criticized as being a "Soviet-style investigation." 

Now, the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees will hold public hearings. They’ll also release previously confidential witness testimony.

Do you support the new rules of the impeachment probe?

 

Under the Radar

Twitter Says 'No' to Political Ads

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced Wednesday, via (naturally) a series of tweets, that the tech giant will no longer accept any political or advocacy advertising on its platform. 

"A political message earns reach when people decide to follow an account or retweet. Paying for reach removes that decision, forcing highly optimized and targeted political messages on people," Dorsey said. "We believe this decision should not be compromised by money."

Twitter's decision stands in stark contrast to Facebook's, which recently announced it would not fact-check ads from political candidates or politicians.

Should Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube ban political ads?

 

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Should the Trump Admin’s Rule That Makes it Easier for States to Obtain Obamacare Waivers be Repealed?