--- title: Nancy Pelosi Opens Debate on Trump's Articles of Impeachment description: Nancy Pelosi kicked off debate on the articles of impeachment against President Trump, saying he "gave us no choice" prior to expected vote. canonical: https://time.com/5752292/pelosi-trump-impeachment-debate/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-18T18:43:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:56:44.906Z article:section: Politics og:title: Nancy Pelosi Opens Debate on Trump's Articles of Impeachment Before Vote og:description: 'If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty' og:url: https://time.com/5752292/pelosi-trump-impeachment-debate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt002598e3f69eb4a4/698a07bfb21a9c05f0502e15/nancy-pelosi-trump-impeachment-.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2811 og:image:height: 1581 og:image:alt: Trump Impeachment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nancy Pelosi Opens Debate on Trump's Articles of Impeachment Before Vote twitter:description: 'If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt002598e3f69eb4a4/698a07bfb21a9c05f0502e15/nancy-pelosi-trump-impeachment-.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'He Gave Us No Choice.' 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 18, 2019 6:43 PM UTC  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks as the House of Representatives debates the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. The Associated Press by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 18, 2019 6:43 PM UTC House Speaker [Nancy Pelosi](https://time.com/5750940/speaker-house-save-impeachment/) kicked off the debate on the [articles of impeachment](https://time.com/5746997/articles-of-impeachment-donald-trump/) against President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/5751532/why-democrats-attempts-to-rein-in-trump-with-impeachment-could-make-his-presidency-stronger/) on Wednesday, saying he “gave us no choice” but to charge him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in her opening remarks. “If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty,” Pelosi said. “It is tragic that the President’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice.” “What we are discussing today is the established fact that the President violated the Constitution,” she continued. “It is a matter of fact that the President is an ongoing threat to our national security and the integrity of our elections, the basis of our democracy.” Dressed in all black, Pelosi also recited the Pledge of Allegiance ahead of the debate, putting an emphasis on the part of the pledge that says, “to the republic, for which it stands.” “A republic, if we can keep it,” she said, repeating a quote from Benjamin Franklin. Her remarks earned her a standing ovation. The House officially began six hours of debate on the two articles of impeachment Wednesday afternoon. A vote on each article is scheduled to take place Wednesday evening. Trump, who is set to become the third U.S. president to be impeached after Wednesday’s vote, [spoke out against the proceedings](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1207355923573989376) on Twitter, calling them “atrocious lies by the radical left.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5752292/pelosi-trump-impeachment-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5752292/pelosi-trump-impeachment-debate/"},"headline":"'He Gave Us No Choice.' 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