A Divided House Endorses Impeachment Inquiry Into Trump

Republicans worked feverishly to hold their ranks together in opposition to the measure, with Mr. Trump rallying support at the White House before the roll call. Though many of the rules are nearly identical to those Republicans adopted in 1998 when they impeached President Bill Clinton, party leaders insisted that supporting the resolution amounted to legitimizing what they view as an indefensible three-year campaign to undo the results of the 2016 election.

“Democrats are trying to impeach the president because they are scared they cannot defeat him at the ballot box,” Mr. McCarthy said. “Why do you not trust the people?”

Democrats cast the resolution in terms of duty and solemn obligation.

“The House impeachment inquiry is about abuse of power,” said Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “It’s about betrayal. It’s about corruption. It’s about national security. It’s about undermining our elections. It’s about defending our democracy for the people.”

Once the voting began, the House chamber buzzed with activity. Ms. Pelosi could be seen on the floor counting the votes as they came in and tracking Democrats until the very last minute, leaving nothing to chance.

Representative Rashida Tlaib, the freshman Democrat from Michigan who gained notoriety on her first day in office for her expletive-laden cry to impeach the president, stared upward, watching the count on the electronic board recording members’ votes. When Ms. Pelosi read the final tally, Republicans erupted in shouts, trying to drown out Democrats as they proceeded with the rest of the scheduled votes.

Though it is not a perfect comparison to votes taken to authorize impeachment inquiries into Mr. Clinton and President Richard M. Nixon, Thursday’s outcome underscored the depth of partisan polarization gripping American politics. Democrats delivered a show of unity that just weeks ago seemed improbable, with even many moderate lawmakers who are facing difficult re-election races in conservative-leaning districts voting in favor of moving forward.

The two Democrats who voted against the resolution — Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey — are both centrists in tight races. The House’s lone independent, Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, a former Republican who left the party after openly criticizing the president, supported it.