Own Correspondent|The President of the United States of America, Donald John Trump has been impeached by the US Congress.

He has become the third US president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives, setting up a trial in the Senate that will decide whether he remains in office.

The House voted on two charges – that the president abused his power and that he had obstructed Congress.

Both votes fell along party lines with nearly all Democrats voting for the charges and all Republicans against.

As voting took place, President Trump was addressing a campaign rally. Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, took the stage at a Michigan rally as the House began voting on impeachment. 

“Tonight the House Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans,” Trump told the crowd. 

The proceedings on Wednesday began with members of Mr Trump’s Republican Party calling for votes on procedural issues in an effort to frustrate the process.

That was followed by a vote on the rules to be set out for the impeachment, which kicked off six hours of partisan debate on the merits of the two impeachment charges against President Trump.

The vote on abuse of power was 216-197. Two Democrats voted against the first article, and one voted present. 

The vote on obstruction of Congress was 229-198, with three Democrats voting against the second article and one voting present.