(WASHINGTON) On Wednesday (12/18/2019) the US House voted to impeach President Trump for abuse of power after a bitter all day debate. Click on NEWS and then to our CBS national news page for details.

Congressman Scott DesJarlais, M.D., represents Tennessee's Fourth District in Congress. He issued the following statement opposing House Democrats' vote to impeach the President today:

"Today was Democrats' fourth attempt to impeach the President, since Nancy Pelosi became House Speaker. The Radical Left may have succeeded in impeaching Donald Trump this time, on a purely partisan vote, but have failed to convince Americans this is anything other than a stunt to distract from their socialist agenda and weak presidential candidates - the real abuse of power. Fortunately, the Founders understood the potential for legislative over-reach and placed checks and balances into our system. The Senate will end this waste of time, and we can move on to important business, such as passing the USMCA trade deal and improving an economy that is already very strong."

When our forefathers established the United States of America, a system of checks and balances was put into place. This was designed to prevent any individual or group from controlling the government for their purposes.

The House has completed its role, and the "balance" is for the Senate to have the opportunity to conduct a trial.

Most scholars agree, the Constitution does not require the Senate to conduct a trial. In fact, the Senate has options to scuttle the impeachment process, ruled by the Supreme Court in 1993.

Only time will tell, what happens next.