WASHINGTON • The House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment charging President Donald Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, setting up a vote by the full House next week before the matter moves to the Senate after the new year.

The panel’s party-line votes Friday came after Democrats and Republicans sparred in an all-day debate Thursday over whether Trump improperly pressured Ukraine to start probes that would help him politically and then tried to block Congress from fully investigating the allegations.

“Today is a solemn and sad day,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. “The House will act expeditiously.”

If the full House approves either of the counts in a vote expected on Wednesday, Trump would become the third American president to be impeached. The matter would then move to the Republican-controlled Senate, where the tally is expected to fall short of the two-thirds vote required to remove Trump from office.

House Republicans said Democrats had abused the process, suggesting it was illegitimate because of their opposition to Trump since he took office. “This is an outrage,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas. “It sets the bar for any president of any party for the future to go through three years of hell like this president.”

Trump, in comments, dismissed the committee’s vote, calling impeachment a “very sad thing for our country.”

Next week will be busy. The House must keep the government funded beyond Friday, when a temporary spending measure expires. It also might take up a rewrite of a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, a priority for moderate Democrats seeking to show they can keep legislation on track even while trying to remove Trump from office.

Democrats have a 36-seat margin over Republicans in the House and project they will have the votes to impeach Trump, even with some defections. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will need to keep in line many Democrats who flipped competitive districts in 2018 who may feel pressure from their constituents to buck the party on impeachment.

Rep. Sean Casten, a first-term Democrat who represents a Chicago suburb, plans to support impeachment, saying the “facts are clear.” But New Jersey Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew said he would prefer censuring Trump. “Look, the president made some mistakes. I don’t believe they’re impeachable.”

Other first-term Democrats — including Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who represents suburbs of Richmond, Va., and Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who represents a swath of Michigan near Detroit — remained on the fence headed into the weekend.

Polls show Americans are split on the issue and that the monthslong impeachment investigation didn’t sway voters much. In a poll released by Monmouth University on Wednesday, 45% said Trump should be impeached and convicted, while half of Americans opposed Trump’s removal from office.

Signs are also emerging that impeachment could pose a challenge for Democrats in some battleground states in the 2020 presidential election. A Marquette University poll of Wisconsin voters released on Thursday found that during the first week of December, 52% of voters thought Trump shouldn’t be impeached, compared with 40% who thought he should.

Pelosi said Thursday she wouldn’t be twisting arms to get votes to pass the articles.

Democrats say that the underlying facts aren’t contested, citing in part a transcript of Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s president in which he asked his counterpart to “do us a favor, though” and also to “look into” Democrat Joe Biden. Democrats have also pointed to testimony of Trump administration officials in alleging Trump withheld a coveted White House meeting and nearly $400 million in aid in order to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations. The aid was released in September amid a bipartisan outcry in Congress.

Republicans say that Democrats are reading too much into the call and that the witness testimony on which Democrats rely is secondhand. Trump has denied any quid pro quo and has said he was concerned about corruption in Ukraine.

The other article, alleging obstruction of Congress, was spurred after Trump blocked officials from testifying and prevented documents from being shared with Congress. Trump and his allies reject the obstruction charge, saying that all presidents have a right to keep information private.

Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., leaves Friday after the House Judiciary Committee passed both articles of impeachment, accusing President Donald Trump of abusing power and obstruction of Congress.

the associated press