The House voted to impeach President Donald Trump Wednesday on charges of abusing his power and obstructing congressional investigations, a historic rebuke in a political era that has threatened to upend the nation’s constitutional order.

The nearly party-line vote to recommend Trump’s removal from office and label him a national security threat was met by a defiant president who vowed to prevail in a Senate trial overseen by his Republican allies — but whose presidency will be forever blemished by an impeachment.

Trump became just the third president to be impeached — after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 — and he is the first who will campaign for re-election after facing the House’s ultimate punishment. Trump is also the first president impeached for abuse of power; a similar charge against Clinton was rejected.

The House voted 230-197 to charge Trump with abuse of power, with just two Democrats in opposition and one voting “present.” The second charge, obstruction of Congress, was approved on a 229-198 vote, with three Democrats breaking ranks and one again voting “present.” All Republicans opposed both articles, underscoring their staunch unity behind the leader of their party.

In a remarkable split-screen, Trump was taking the stage at a rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, as the final votes were cast, basking in the clamorous applause of his most passionate supporters amid the darkest moment of his presidency.

“It doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached,” Trump said. “The country is doing better than ever before. We did nothing wrong, and we have tremendous support in the Republican Party.”

Democratic leaders cited Trump’s lack of remorse — and, indeed, his alleged ongoing pursuit of a scheme to undermine the integrity of the 2020 presidential election — as evidence that he poses a continuing and unprecedented threat to U.S. national security if permitted to remain in office. That charge far exceeds the gravity of any previous presidential impeachment.

“It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on the floor of the House. “He gave us no choice.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), whose panel drafted and approved the impeachment charges last week, said Trump’s removal from office was urgent and necessary — even as the Republican-controlled Senate is likely to acquit Trump.

“We cannot rely on the next election as a remedy for presidential misconduct when the president threatens the very integrity of that election,” Nadler said. “He has shown us he will continue to put his selfish interests above the good of the country. We must act without delay.”

But in a news conference shortly after the votes late Wednesday night, Pelosi injected new uncertainty into the timeline, suggesting that she would hold off on naming the House’s impeachment managers — the lawmakers who will present the case against Trump during the Senate trial — until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) commits to a “fair” set of procedures for the trial.

“So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us,” Pelosi said, refusing to commit to ultimately sending the articles to the Senate. Democratic lawmakers and aides noted that a Senate trial cannot begin until the House names its impeachment managers.

Just two Democrats — Reps. Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey — broke from their party to oppose the first article of impeachment, while Rep. Jared Golden of Maine opposed only the second article. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard voted “present” both times. Van Drew, who had long questioned the impeachment push, has already signaled to colleagues and aides that he intends to switch parties and join the GOP.

Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, an independent, backed both articles. Amash left the Republican Party earlier this year shortly after announcing his support for impeachment, and amid several ideological disagreements with Trump.

Inside the House chamber, lawmakers dispensed with any pretense of persuasion, accepting early on that the vote was largely predetermined. They instead used the six-hour debate to reiterate well-worn arguments and talk past each other. That changed briefly during one tense moment, after Nadler accused Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) of spouting Russian propaganda. Gohmert, wagging his finger and confronting Nadler directly, demanded that he retract his words. Gohmert later approached Nadler and continued to harangue him.

When the first article was adopted, several Democrats began applauding and cheering, prompting Pelosi, who was presiding over the vote, to give them a stern look and raise her arm in their direction to warn them against overtly celebrating what she and other Democratic leaders have dubbed a solemn and somber day.

Trump’s impeachment is the culmination of Democrats’ year-long string of Trump-focused investigations overseen by Pelosi, a skilled political tactician who remained reluctant to embrace impeachment until the Ukraine scandal broke open. Even with the charges heading to the Senate for a trial likely to result in an acquittal, House Democrats have vowed to continue their impeachment probes — especially those focused on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.

The House’s debate showcased the deepening dysfunction that has gripped Washington in the Trump era — in addition to the unflinching loyalty that the president demands, and almost invariably receives, from congressional Republicans. Trump capitalized on his iron grip on the Republican Party’s base to demand that GOP lawmakers describe his conduct as not just acceptable but “perfect.”

Democrats, meanwhile, once contended that impeachment must be solidly bipartisan or else it would not be worth pursuing. In the face of a united Republican Party, though, Democrats have argued that their reversal on this pledge is a reflection of a GOP that refuses to bend despite overwhelming evidence of Trump’s misconduct. Republicans routinely accused Democrats of backing off this stance to satisfy their base’s most zealous impeachment supporters.

“After three years of breathless and baseless outrage, this is their last attempt to stop the Trump presidency,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, accusing Democrats of undertaking “the most partisan and least credible impeachment in the history of America.”

The charges against Trump stem from his efforts to enlist Ukraine to announce investigations targeting former Vice President Joe Biden, a possible 2020 rival, and other Democrats on discredited allegations. Trump made the request in a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a summary of which the White House released in September, fueling the House's impeachment investigation and prompting allegations that Trump was soliciting foreign assistance for his reelection.

Democrats have also accused Trump of dispatching his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukrainian officials to launch the probes. They said Trump sought to further pressure Zelensky by ordering a freeze on $391 million in military aid meant for Ukraine, and by refusing a White House visit for Zelensky intended to broadcast U.S. support for an ally at war with Russia.

In directing the alleged scheme, Democrats said, Trump “betrayed” the country and violated his oath of office — a claim that forms the basis of the first article of impeachment, abuse of power. In a separate report issued earlier this week, the House Judiciary Committee went even further, writing that Trump committed criminal bribery and wire fraud as part of a months-long scheme to solicit foreign interference in a U.S. election. Republicans have pointed out that neither charge appears in the text of the impeachment articles.

When Democrats began investigating the matter, Trump directed senior officials to defy subpoenas and refuse to appear for testimony or to provide documents. The second impeachment article — obstruction of Congress — describes these actions as an unprecedented assault on the House’s impeachment power and an attempt to skirt accountability.

The two articles of impeachment were the product of weeks of agonizing debate inside the Democratic caucus about which “high crimes and misdemeanors” to bring to the floor. Several members of the Democratic Caucus had hoped to include obstruction of justice as a third charge, based primarily on Mueller’s findings — but Pelosi and other House leaders viewed the Ukraine scandal as a simpler and more compelling narrative to explain to Americans.

Lawmakers first learned of the Ukraine allegations when the White House intervened to block a whistleblower complaint from reaching the House Intelligence Committee. Soon thereafter, the committee launched an aggressive and fast-paced investigation that included depositions from 17 State Department, Pentagon and White House officials, as well as a series of public hearings.

While many Democrats have been eager to impeach Trump since his inauguration, the majority of House Democrats took their cues from Pelosi, who routinely and swiftly suppressed the energy for impeachment — spurred mostly by progressive activists — in the opening months of the House Democratic majority.

That Republicans uniformly opposed impeachment was a reflection not just of Trump’s dominance over the GOP but the feverish whip operation deployed by McCarthy to keep the party united.

Republicans have contended that Democrats’ pursuit of impeachment lowers the standard envisioned by the framers of the Constitution for deploying Congress’ weightiest weapon against a sitting president. They have harangued Democrats over what they say is an unfair process that did not provide Trump ample opportunities to defend himself. The president also on Tuesday sent Pelosi a six-page letter detailing his complaints about the impeachment process, claiming “more due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”

Trump’s GOP allies also argued that the evidence Democrats presented was thin and less convincing than it was in previous impeachment inquiries. They said the decision to pursue impeachment was based more on political considerations than facts and evidence.

“The clock and the calendar are terrible masters,” said Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. “They do not care about facts.”

Short of a last-minute maneuver by Pelosi, the Senate is expected to begin a trial early next year to decide the fate of the Trump presidency. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is slated to preside over the proceedings.

McConnell has telegraphed his close partnership with Trump’s White House legal team, vowing that the trial will be conducted to their liking. He also said he had no plans to be “impartial,” and has repeatedly predicted that Trump would be acquitted.

It was unclear on Wednesday when — or whether — Pelosi intends to name impeachment managers. One likely manager is Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who led the impeachment inquiry that resulted in Wednesday’s vote.

“This was tragically made necessary by the president's misconduct, by the abuse of his office,” Schiff (D-Calif.) said.

“I think there may very well be members who have regrets after this day,” he added, “when they’re asked in the future why they did nothing to stand up to this unethical president who is betraying our national security.”

Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.

Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine

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