Vox Sentences: All-in for impeachment

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Impeachment inquiry gets formal go-ahead

A resolution to formalize the burgeoning impeachment inquiry passed 232-196 in the House along mainly partisan lines. [Washington Post / Karoun Demirjian, Rachael Bade, Mike DeBonis, and Elise Viebeck]
While the vote did not decide on whether or not lawmakers wanted to impeach the president, it did codify how Congress would move forward with impeachment proceedings and take them public. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota were the only Democrats to vote no. Zero Republicans voted yes and the only independent, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, voted yes. [New York Times / Weiyi Cai, Annie Daniel, Jasmine C. Lee, Denise Lu, Blacki Migliozzi, Alicia Parlapiano, and Jugal K. Patel]
Voting on how to conduct the impeachment inquiry isn’t required by the Constitution, but Democrats are officially turning to a new phase of the inquiry. [Vice / Cameron Joseph]
The vote follows a week of impeachment news that is catching up to Trump. Testimony from chief envoy to Ukraine William Taylor, and the National Security Council’s Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Tim Morrison put into question Trump’s claims of no quid pro quo. [FiveThirtyEight / Clare Malone]
But the vote itself might have been a win for Trump: The measure should have been the most palatable of impeachment steps for Republicans, and not a single one voted for it. [The Atlantic / Russel Berman]
The impeachment inquiry is official. The Today, Explained team talks about what that means — and what’s next. [Spotify / Today, Explained]

Iraqi prime minister promises to resign

Iraqi President Barham Salih announced that Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi agreed to step down once his replacement was agreed upon by parliament. The move is in response to weeks of violent, anti-government protest. [BBC]
The statement came after a leader in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, intervened to prevent a vote of no confidence against Mahdi that was led by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. [Reuters]
Security forces have cracked down on the protesters and the death toll has risen to around 250, but the violence continued Wednesday as rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone. The area hosts Iraq’s government buildings and several embassies, including the US embassy that was on high alert with missiles landing just over 100 yards away. [Al Jazeera]
As people took to the streets to protest corruption and demand the rewriting of the constitution, Mahdi attempted to quell the demonstrators by offering to change election laws and promising improved services and increased employment opportunities. [Al Monitor / Ali Mamouri]
Weeks of anti-government protest are slowly chipping away at the Iraqi government’s ability to lead, prompting apprehension from Iran. [Associated Press / Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Joseph Krauss]