ALAN FRAM and MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats set the stage Wednesday for certain House approval of the ground rules lawmakers will use when they consider impeaching President Donald Trump as the chamber braced for its first showdown over the inquiry.
There was no doubt that the Democratic-controlled body would approve the eight pages of procedures on Thursday, with each side likely to lose a handful of defectors, if any.
"As much as this president flaunts the Constitution, we are going to protect it," House Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern, D-Mass., said as his panel debated the procedures.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told The Associated Press that the package creates "much more of a politically closed system than an open system."
That ec
