UPDATE: Both articles of impeachment were approved by the House. This does NOT mean that President Donald Trump has been impeached; it just means that the two articles will be moving to the House for full vote sometime next week.

Sept. 24 was a day that no one had expected to have such a drastic effect on the American government. This was when Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi officially announced the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Since this day, the phrases “quid pro quo” and “impeachment clause” have been the focal points of American politics.

As I stated in Prospector Political Publish Week #7, the House Judiciary Committee has initiated official impeachment proceedings for Trump. Since Wednesday, the House has been holding debates on the articles of impeachment and is expected to vote by the end of the week.

As we get closer to a vote, I needed to clear up one large misconception I have noticed as the conversation of impeachment arose in my classes and friend group: Trump will not be immediately removed from office if he is impeached. When I first wrote the news story covering the announcement of the inquiry, I explained how the process of impeachment works.

To summarize, impeachment begins in the House and the representatives vote on articles of impeachment in order to determine if the president committed an impeachable act. If the president happens to get impeached by the House, a criminal trial begins in the U.S. Senate in which the 100 senators act as a jury. If a two-thirds majority of the Senate happens to find a president guilty of an impeachable offense, the president is removed from office.

No president in American history has ever been removed from office and I can almost guarantee that the same result for Trump will occur. While former Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton have been impeached, both presidents were acquitted by the Senate during their respective trials. With Democrats controlling the House and Republicans controlling the Senate, it can be assumed that Trump will be impeached but acquitted during his trial.

As I look back on Prospector Political Publish, I notice that many of my stories have been based around impeachment in some way. Since I started this blog to cover many unique, timely issues, I was disappointed to see so many of my stories covering different angles of a complex issue. It is my duty as a weekly political writer to cover the most timely issues and that happens to be impeachment most of the time. 

The headline of this story makes impeachment almost seem like a movie. I say that it needs a “finale” because I fear that this issue is engulfing our government like the way a movie steals consumer attention. I am a huge supporter of making sure our checks and balances system works by holding our leaders accountable, but I am scared that our politicians are going to get caught up in a constitutional system and not be fulfilling their most important job: passing legislation in favor of the people. 

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said at the last Democratic debate that Congress can “chew bubble gum and walk at the same time” while referring to the impeachment. However, the fact that this issue has been the only political topic that I can write about and it is all I hear about in the news raises red flags; it forces me to grow tired of this impeachment. 

The vote must occur in the next few days and finally put this issue to rest. The House of Representatives is meant to be the branch closest to the people; it is time they do the jobs they were elected to fulfill and cast their votes.