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Vox Sentences: 2 important votes

Full House vote on impeachment coming soon; UK vote leaves Johnson in the clear and Corbyn out of a job.

by Hannah Brown

Dec 14, 2019, 1:00 AM UTC

Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Judiciary chair.

Shawn Thew (Pool)/Getty Images

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The committee has spoken

After two days of panel deliberation and infighting, the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve the drafted articles of impeachment against President Trump. [CNBC / Yelena Dzhanova and Christina Wilkie]
Drafted by the committee earlier this week, the articles bring two charges against President Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
The articles were approved by a margin of 23 to 17 along party lines from the Democrat-controlled panel. [New York Times / Nicholas Fandos]
After postponing the vote to Friday due to the extended debate Thursday night, the Judiciary Committee’s decision amounts to a recommendation that the accusations merited consideration by the entire House. [NPR / Amita Kelly and Brian Naylor]
GOP members of the panel and the House made their displeasure known during the 14 hours of televised squabbling on Thursday. [Washington Post / Elise Viebeck, Rachael Bade, and Colby Itkowitz]
With a full House vote leading to a high possibility of a Senate trial, Trump plans to have White House counsel Pat Cipollone defend him. [Bloomberg / Billy House and Jordan Fabian]
What’s next for impeachment? More votes and a trial. [CNN / Chris Cillizza]

Tories hold on to power in Thursday’s UK election

By a margin of 365 to 203, the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party claimed a victory over the Labour Party in parliamentary elections on Thursday. [BBC / Becky Morton, Chris Lansdown, Francesca Gillett, and Dulcie Lee]
“[Conservative Prime Minister] Boris Johnson now has five years in power. Brexit will happen. Labour faces an existential question about its future — yet again,” said Tony Travers, a professor of politics at the London School of Economics. [New York Times / Mark Landler and Stephen Castle]
While the vote doesn’t reflect the largely negative perceptions of Johnson or a belief in his ability to govern, it does testify to dislike of Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s left-wing leader who tried to please voters on both sides of the Brexit divide. [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]
Across the UK’s territories, election victory was less certain for the Tories, a fact that could morph into a problem for Johnson down the road if the divisions continue to grow. [CNN / Stephen Collinson]
Corbyn has promised to resign from his position at the head of Labour at the end of this year, in response to the crushing defeat of Thursday’s election. [Vox / Jen Kirby]

Miscellaneous

Harsh and cold conditions face prisoners at Rikers. [Vox / Roxanna Asgarian]
2019 Nobel literature laureate Peter Handke is a persona non grata for his admiration of Slobodan Milošević and apologist behavior for the atrocities committed during the Bosnian War. [The Guardian / Shaun Walker]
An internal investigation at the Department of Veterans Affairs reveals that slow payments lead to canceled services and collection agency calls for veterans. [Wall Street Journal / Ben Kesling]
Around 140,000 felons had their voting rights restored in Kentucky. [Louisville Courier-Journal / Chris Kenning and Jonathan Bullington]
After Trump announced that America will end tariffs on Chinese products on Sunday, stocks soared. [Business Insider / Theron Mohamed]

Verbatim

“It was a painful scene, may God help his mother, and I wonder why the police did not do anything. Maybe tomorrow this thing could happen with me and no one would help me.” [Abu Mohammad Alkinani, an Iraqi man who knew the boy killed by a mob Thursday]