THE Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, who has become the third president in U.S. history to be formally impeached and will face a trial in the Senate.

The House passed the first article, which accused Trump of abuse of power, on a vote of 230-197 with one voting “present,” Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Two Democrats, Collin Peterson of northern state Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of eastern state New Jersey, voted against impeaching Trump, while Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a Democrat who is running for president, voted “present.”

The vote for the second article charging the president of obstruction of Congress was passed 229-198 with Gabbard again voting “present.”

Republicans rejected the two charges unanimously.

The voting results marked the most partisan of all three presidential impeachments in U.S. history as the deep polarization gripping American politics continues in the Trump era, some local analysts said.

“It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice,” Pelosi said when kicking off the debate hours before the historic vote.

Trump “tried to cheat. He got caught. He confessed. And then he obstructed the investigation,” Democrat David Cicilline said during the debate.

Trump and fellow House Republicans slammed the Democrats’ impeachment effort as “an assault” on the country as well as on the Republican party with an aim to overturn the results of the 2016 election and hurt his re-election campaign.

“Such atrocious lies by the radical left, do nothing Democrats. This is an assault on the Republican party,” Trump tweeted before the vote.

After the impeachment vote, the White House expressed confidence that Trump would be “fully exonerated.”

“Today marks the culmination in the House of one of the most shameful political episodes in the history of our nation,” White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.

“The president is confident the Senate will restore regular order, fairness, and due process, all of which were ignored in the House proceedings. He is prepared for the next steps and confident that he will be fully exonerated,” the statement said.

According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday, 48 percent of American registered voters believe that Trump should be impeached and removed from office, while an equal 48 percent say they disagree.

Under the U.S. Constitution, conviction can only happen in the Senate and requires the support of at least two-thirds of its members, or 67 senators.(Xinhua)