PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- The members of Congress from the Philadelphia area fell along party lines in Wednesday's vote on President Donald Trump's second impeachment. The Democrats voted yes, and the Republicans voted no.
Democratic U.S. Representatives Brendan Boyle, Dwight Evans, Madeleine Dean, Mary Gay Scanlon and Chrissy Houlihan of Pennsylvania voted yes to impeach. So did Congressmen Donald Norcross and Andy Kim of New Jersey along with Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware.
"To heal we need accountability and truth. That begins by acknowledging the president’s dangerous lies and their deadly consequences," Dean, one of the impeachment managers, said on the floor of the House leading up to the vote.
Dean, who represents Montgomery County, and who is part of the team presenting the case for impeachment to the U.S. Senate, joined KYW Newsradio on Thursday morning with details of the proceedings:
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"I too urge my colleagues to unite," Scanlon said, "but to unite in love of country and to hold this president accountable. What unites this country is respect for the rule of law."
Boyle, who was live on KYW Newsradio after the historic vote, noted that 10 House Republicans sided with the Democrats. None of those Republicans are from the area.
"That means this is now officially the most bipartisan impeachment in American history. Never before have you seen so many members of a president's own party impeach the president," Boyle said.
Republican Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County and Jeff Van Drew of South Jersey voted no. Fitzpatrick wanted to hold the President accountable by introducing a resolution to censure him, while Van Drew said a second impeachment would further divide the nation.
"Nearly half the country supports our current President. This takes their voice away," Van Drew said during the impeachment debate.
Van Drew was one of the Republicans who voted last week against certiftying Joe Biden's win in the 2020 election.
Next up is a Senate trial. Sen. Pat Toomey, the single Republican senator from the area, said he still blames the president for the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, but he says it is "debatable" whether or not the Senate has the constitutional authority to have an impeachment trial for a president who is out of office. If a trial happens, he said he would consider the arguments from the impeachment managers and the president's legal team before making a decision.