One thing that both the committee and the House leadership will try to avoid is a close vote along party lines—a vote whereby Republicans and Democrats divide as such. An impeachment voted that way would go to the Senate tainted, or at least suspicious, and would be unlikely to satisfy the country, because party motives would be suspected. This desire for bipartisan backing will expectably result in there existing some leverage on the part of the minority members of the committee and of the House—in our times the Republican members. In other words, some compromise will be sought which can win the adherence of at least a fair number of them.
Black, Charles L., Jr. & Bobbitt, Phillip, Impeachment: A Handbook, New Edition (p. 10). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
My, how 1974 seems like a dream to us now, almost idyllic, as Republican Senators, led by Barry Goldwater, went to the White House and told Nixon that he would be removed in an impeachment trial. Nixon resigned two days later.
