Utah’s four House members voted along party lines Wednesday on the two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
Trump became only the third president ever to be impeached after the House approved two articles of impeachment following a marathon day of debate on the House floor.
Democrat Ben McAdams followed through on his Monday pledge to vote yes on both articles.
“I voted yes. What the President did was wrong. His actions weakened our country and the checks and balances enshrined in our founding documents. I voted to hold him accountable for that,” said McAdams in a statement posted to his website.
McAdams by far had the toughest decision to make. He is the state’s lone Democrat in Congress, representing a solidly Republican district. However, Donald Trump only carried Utah’s 4th CD by 7 points in 2016.
McAdams may not pay a political price for his vote in favor of impeachment. UtahPolicy.com polling shows that voters in McAdams’ 4th District would be slightly more likely to support him if he voted in favor of impeachment.
In a press conference following the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised the freshmen Democrats from Trump districts, like McAdams, that decided against the safe political play and voted to impeach the president.
“I’m very proud of the freshman members who came here. They reviewed the facts and honored their oaths to obey the constitution,” she said.
Rep. Chris Stewart was the only Utah Republican to speak on the floor during the impeachment debate where he warned that Democrats were setting a dangerous precedent for future presidents.
“If this impeachment is successful, I promise you the next president will be impeached, and the next president after that,” he said. “If you set this bar as being impeachable, every president in our future will be impeached.”
Rep. Rob Bishop’s office sent us this statement from the congressman following the vote:
“Since coming to Washington, I have been asked to impeach Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump. I have consistently rejected these requests because each was a political effort to minimize the voice of the people. After three years and 30 million dollars since Democrats began their goal of impeaching President Trump, we are faced with a vote that many are justifying not by facts, but mere feelings, hatred, and animosity towards the president. Feelings ought to be irrelevant to this debate, and the facts certainly don’t rise to the level of an impeachable offense. For this reason, I voted no in the hopes of ending this farce and moving America forward.”
Rep. John Curtis did not release a public statement after the vote.
