Following the recent House impeachment of the 45th President of the United States, there’s been a major growth in division between the GOP and the Democrats. The President had formerly been accused of pressuring Ukraine to dig up damaging information on one of his major democratic opponents, Joe Biden, in order to boost his chances of re-election in the 2020 campaign. With this, the President is also accused of withholding $400 million dollars in military aid to Ukraine that had already been allocated by Congress. 

After weeks of debate in The House of Representatives, the POTUS was formally impeached, receiving 230 “yea” votes on charge one, abuse of power, and 229 “yea” votes on charge two, obstruction of Congress as related to the alleged Ukraine-Biden events . President Trump, who is a Republican, strongly disagrees with any wrongdoing on his part.The actions taken by the President have been deemed as an abuse of Presidential power by the Democratic party, believing he used the office for personal political gain, nearly jeopardizing the national security of the United States.

The evidence against Trump includes a rough transcript of the phone call between Mr. Trump and President Zelensky, and a formal whistleblower complaint that expressed concern about the phone call itself. President Trump is also accused of obstruction of justice by refusing to cooperate with the congressional inquiry. 

The Republican defense comes in three parts: Ukraine’s president said he felt no pressure, the Ukrainians were unaware the aid was held back, and US military aid was eventually released. 

With many different voices and opinions about the subject of impeachment across the country, students at Jonathan Alder are divided as well. 

Some students, such as Junior Caleb Keene, feel as if the president is in the right in this situation. “Personally, I don’t really think he [Trump] has done anything at the level of impeachment,” says Keene. “I read the transcript and it seemed like he was in the clear. I don’t know everything though. I think Pelosi keeping the articles just points out that it’s a sham. I mean, why would she keep them this long anyways? “ 

Others, like Junior Riley Woods, argue that Trump needs to be removed from office as soon as possible. “Since the beginning of Trump’s presidency, Trump has directly violated both the domestic and foreign emoluments clauses, two impeachable offenses,” says Woods. “Next, in early 2017, as a result of the findings of the Mueller investigation, it became evident Trump committed Obstruction of Justice. Then in 2019, the public learned of Trump’s leveraging of military aid to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on a political opponent- an act that interferes with the legitimacy of the 2020 election. The facts are clear: Trump is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and deserves to be impeached because nobody is above the law.“

In the coming months, the Senate will begin the impeachment trial of the President, with Chief Justice, John Roberts, presiding over the trial. The trial itself will begin after House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, gives the articles of impeachment to the Senate.