Whether he says so or not, Donald Trump's presidency stands on its most treacherous ground after the House voted Thursday to approve and proceed with its impeachment inquiry.
The resolution, passed on a largely party-line 232-196 vote, does not just lay out a road map for the public phase of the inquiry. It sends a clear signal that a vote to a impeach Trump, and a trial in the Senate, is all but inevitable.
Trump becomes just the fourth president to be subject to a formal impeachment effort. Two of them, Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson, were impeached in the House but weren't convicted in the Senate. Richard Nixon, facing certain conviction, resigned before the House could vote to approve articles of impeachment.