The text of the impeachment process resolution was released on Oct. 29, two days before a vote was scheduled. No vote has taken place on the inquiry as of yet; three previous votes on impeaching Trump have failed.
H. Res. 660 deals with how the impeachment inquiry will move forward against President Donald Trump. The inquiry was announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last month based on a complaint made by an anonymous person against the president.
The complaint alleged Trump abused the office of the president during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July. Trump’s White House released a transcript of the call shortly after Pelosi made her announcement; the full complaint was released the next day.
The text of the pending resolution says that “certain committees” will “continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America, and for other purposes.”
The resolution authorizes the House Intelligence Committee to hold open or closed hearings, during which Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) will question witnesses for equal periods of time of longer than five minutes.
Schiff will be able to let others question witnesses in the inquiry for blocks of time as long as 90 minutes in total.
If Schiff agrees, Nunes can subpoena or request attendance and testimony of any person and the production of books, correspondence, and other documents.
Schiff would also be authorized to release to the public transcripts of depositions conducted by his committee with appropriate redactions for classified and other sensitive information.
After the inquiry is over, Schiff, Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), and acting Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) will issue a report about what was found during the probe.
The resolution also authorizes Schiff to transfer any records or materials from the inquiry to the Judiciary Committee, which is headed by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). The Judiciary Committee is authorized through the resolution “to conduct proceedings relating to the impeachment inquiry referenced in the first section of this resolution 13 pursuant to the procedures submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the chair of the Committee on Rules, including such procedures as to allow for the participation of the President and his counsel.”
See the full text of the resolution below.
