Let's look ahead for a moment.

If Donald Trump is impeached in the House later (which is widely expected), he will stand trial in the Senate.

That is unlikely to happen before Trump leaves office.

A two-thirds majority is required in the Senate for a conviction to pass.

With the Senate split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, if every Democratic senator votes to convict, they'll still need to muster 17 more votes from their Republican colleagues.

Samantha Granville
BBC News, Capitol Hill

For the most part it’s been pretty quiet on the floor of the House chamber and up in the press gallery where politicians hid from rioters last week.

Most of those giving floor speeches during debate are talking to a half-empty room, with other colleagues around who are not paying much attention.

But after Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse announced he would be the sixth member of his party to vote for impeachment, cheers and applause erupted from the Democratic side of the chamber.

Reporters scrambled to update their paper tally on votes.

...welcome to our live coverage.

The US House of Representatives is closing in on a vote on the impeachment of President Trump following last week’s storming of the capitol.

If impeached, the Senate will hold a trial which could potentially bar Trump from ever running for president again.

Democrats have been asking others "what side of history" they would like to be on. Republicans are claiming Democrats have never shown the same outrage at violent protests over racial justice.

Here are some other developments:

• The White House has released a statement from Trump calling for “no violence”
• Washington State Congressman Dan Newhouse, a Republican, has broken with his party and voted yes on impeachment
• Last night was the first time since the US Civil War that federal troops slept at the Capitol to protect it from possible violence

For those wanting to keep up to date with the vote, the debate on the articles of impeachment is set to come to a close in about an hour or so.

Then sometime between 15:00 and 16:00 local time (20:00 GMT to 21:00 GMT) members of the House will vote on impeachment.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

"Glory to god," begins Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert, who made headlines recently after demanding that she be allowed to carry a handgun in Congress.

"Make no mistake, the hypocrisy of the left is on full display," she says, going on to quote references Trump critics have made to "fighting" his administration's policies.

“Quote, go to the Hill get in the face of some congress people…. Go and take Trump out to tonight,” she says, without citing the source.

"I call bull crap when I hear Democrats calling for unity. Sadly they are only unified in hate," she concludes.

Boebert has been criticised for tweeting about Nancy Pelosi's location as rioters breached the Capitol last week.

On the morning of the riot, she tweeted "today is 1776" in a reference to the American Revolution.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Image source, EPA

The case against impeaching Donald Trump, according to Democrats, is self-evident.

The president gave an incendiary speech to thousands of supporters on Wednesday morning last week, some of whom then marched to the Congress and launched an attack.

Republicans have countered by saying that the move, just a week before the end of Trump’s presidential term, is pointless and divisive.

The congressional debate, at least so far, has been about more than just Trump, however.

Democrats have tried to tie the capitol riot not just to the president, but to the Republicans who supported him. They’ve attributed it not just to Trump’s words on Wednesday, but to two months of unsubstantiated claims - backed by many Republicans - that Joe Biden “stole” the White House with his November general election victory.

Republicans, for their part, have tried to paint Democratic impeachment efforts as part of an effort to undermine Trump that began the moment he took office. They’ve called it “cancel culture” run amuck and a campaign to silence and disparage Trump’s supporters, along with the president.

At this point, it seems inevitable that the House will vote to impeach the president and that, unlike impeachment in 2019, the motion will have some Republican support. The debate leading up to the vote, however, shows that the partisan divides in the chamber are still very real and daunting.

The White House press office has just put out this statement from Trump, who would normally be live-tweeting on a day like this.

"In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be NO violence, NO lawbreaking and NO vandalism of any kind.

"That is not what I stand for, and it is not what America stands for. I call on ALL Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You."

James Clayton
North America technology reporter

Image source, Twitter/ @IvankaTrump

Deplatforming works, often very well.

If these were normal times, and they aren’t, Donald Trump would be telling us exactly what he thought of the impeachment process on Twitter. Probably in all caps.

But Big Tech’s silencing of the president has contributed to a very quiet White House today.

We’ve not heard from the outgoing president today, and as his power slips away, perhaps we should get used to that.

Elsewhere, many pro-Trump groups on Facebook are scrambling to change their names - in an attempt to stop from being purged.

Other groups openly discuss how to post phrases such as the now-banned slogan, "Stop the Steal" without getting kicked off.

A Facebook spokesperson told Reuters that storming of the Capitol appeared to be a galvanising event - spawning efforts to organise gatherings across the country around Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Big Tech’s next battle will be to show that their moderation processes are good enough to catch calls to violence on their own platforms.

Washington State Congressman Dan Newhouse is breaking with his party on impeachment.

"My colleagues are responsible for not condemning rioters," he begins, adding that "we are all responsible."

"We must all do better. These articles of impeachment are flawed, but I will not use process as an excuse. There is no excuse for President Trump's actions."

He concludes, to applause from Democrats: "Last week, there was a domestic threat at the door of the Capitol and he did nothing to stop it. That is why, with a heavy heart and clear resolve, I will vote yes."

Colorado Republican Ken Buck says Americans have been frustrated by the treatment of Trump for years.

"They were frustrated to read in the Washington Post the day after the inauguration: 'Let the impeachment begin'. They were frustrated when members of this House spoke over and over of impeaching the president."

Buck continues: "And then the socialists in Hollywood joined their allies in Congress. Robert de Niro said he wanted to punch the president in the face.

"Madonna thought about blowing up the White House. Kathy Griffin held up a likeness of the president's beheaded head. And nothing was said by my colleagues at that point in time."

De Niro later said his words were "symbolic", and that he was trying to "bully" Trump back. Madonna said her words were taken out of context and that she did not promote violence. And Griffin initially issued a tearful apology for the disturbing beheading image, but then retracted that, saying she received death threats and the outrage was "blown out of proportion".

As Twitter was quick to point out...this might be the first time these celebs saw mention on the floor of the People's House.

A spokesman for Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has just confirmed that the Kentucky Republican will not reconvene the chamber for an emergency session to hold an impeachment trial for Trump in the Senate.

The House is set to vote on impeachment today, setting up a potential Senate trial that now appears likely to happen after Democrats take control and after Trump has already left office.

A two-thirds majority of senators would have to vote to convict him, meaning 17 Republicans would need to join the Democrats.

Samantha Granville
BBC News, Capitol Hill, Washington

Over the past 24 hours there have been lots of votes to vote, but finally the House of Representatives has moved to the debate over the article of impeachment against Trump.

Of course, we don’t expect this debate to actually change any minds in the next couple of hours, but reporters are anxiously waiting for the slow trickle of more Republicans announcing their break from the party and their allegiance to Trump.

At this time next week, Donald Trump will no longer be president, regardless of what happens in the coming days.

In a highly symbolic move, Speaker Pelosi is wearing the same suit she wore when the House impeached Trump in December 2019, just a short 13 months ago.

The state of Virginia, which neighbours Washington DC, has begun its 2021 legislative season with heightened security.

After the FBI issued a warning about armed protests at all 50 state capitals around the inauguration (20 January), local law enforcement across the country have stepped up security measures.

In Richmond, Virginia's capital, agencies including the Virginia Capitol Police, Richmond police, state police and emergency management department issued a joint statement saying any non-peaceful demonstration "will not be tolerated".

Due to the ongoing pandemic, lawmakers won't be meeting at the actual state Capitol building either. House delegates will be working remotely, local media say, while the state Senate meets at a museum.

In Virginia, there's another concern weighing on law enforcement: Lobby Day. This annual gathering of gun rights advocates happens on 18 Janaury. Last year, there were 22,000 attendees. This year, a police spokesman said there would be limits on how many people can gather.

Image source, Getty Images

California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa says Trump has always acted this way and called for peaceful protest in his speech.

"We are trying to punish the president for four years of what he did. What happened last week was the result of anarchists who came loaded prepared and with weapons."

He's faced criticism this week for saying Democrats are exaggerating what happened.

"There’s no question at all, I think the liberals saw an opportunity, a misstep by the president that they’re going to overplay and they’re overplaying it as we speak," he told Fox Business on Monday.

Thousands of National Guard troops are deploying to Washington DC ahead of the inauguration.

You've already seen photos of them protecting - and sleeping overnight inside - the Capitol building complex.

Some of them may be wandering the halls of the US Capitol for the first time.

New York Times reporter Emily Cochrane captured this photo of black Guardsmen taking photos in front of a statue of Rosa Parks.

Parks became a giant of the US civil rights movement after she refused to give up her seat in the 'whites only' section aboard a segregated public bus. Her act of civil disobedience led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a seminal event in the movement.

Republican lawmaker Jim Jordan has defended the president’s record, mentioning an improving economy, the appointment of three new conservative Supreme Court judges, and the movement of the US embassy to Jerusalem.

But he warned of the president being a victim of "cancel culture".

“It’s always been about getting the president no matter what. An obsession. An obsession that is about cancelling the president and anyone that disagrees,” he said.

He continued: “It won’t just be Republicans that will be cancelled. Cancel culture will come for us all. America is a great country, the greatest country ever.”

"The attack on the First Amendment has to stop".

Jon Sopel
BBC North America Editor

Image source, Getty Images

As dawn broke over the Capitol this morning, it was an unimaginable sight.

Troop carriers disgorging the National Guard – being handed rifles and riot shields.

In the hallowed marble halls of Congress, soldiers slept. In one corner they huddled under a bust of the civil war president, Abraham Lincoln.

Impeachment 2.0 is different from last year’s iteration.

For a start, the congressional chamber where this is being heard is also the crime scene; where the Trump supporting mob descended last week.

And unlike last year, this isn’t about some call to a Ukrainian politician about a gas company no one had heard of. This is about an assault on the sacred heart of US democracy.

Last time around every Republican voted as a block to back the president. Not likely today.

A number have said they are going to vote to impeach, and tellingly there has not been a single Republican voice defending Donald Trump, merely a questioning of the process.

Airbnb announced today that it was cancelling all bookings in Washington for next week, as have some hotels, to stop potential rioters from coming to town.

The nation’s capital is being transformed into a citadel.

Image source, Getty Images

More from Pelosi.

"The president must be convicted by the Senate that will ensure the Republic will be safe from this man who is so resolutely determined to tear down the things we hold dear and that hold us together," she says.

Pelosi adds that it breaks her heart to be at yet another impeachment session.

"It should break your heart. It should break all of our hearts."

She says this move is "not motivated by partisanship".

"I stand before you as an officer of the Constitution, as a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter - a daughter whose father proudly served in this Congress."

She asks lawmakers for some soul searching. "Is the president's war on democracy in keeping with the Constitution?"

Pelosi concludes: "My fellow Americans, we cannot escape history. Let us fulfill our duty and honour the trust of our nation."

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi spoke as the debate on impeachment begins.

"We hold the power and bear the responsibility," she says, harkening back to Abraham Lincoln's words.

"We know that the president of the US incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country. He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."

Image source, Getty Images

Some of Trump's most conservative defenders in Congress have begun calling for the resignation of Wyoming Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney after she said yesterday that she would vote to impeach Trump.

Cheney, the third highest ranking Republican in the chamber and the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, slammed Trump in a statement yesterday, saying: "There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution."

Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, who Trump awarded a Medal of Freedom to on Monday for defending him during the last impeachment, was among those calling for her to go.

“We ought to have a second vote,” he told reporters. "The conference ought to vote on that."

Congressman Matt Rosendale of Montana said that Cheney did not notify the body of her decision to impeach, and "failed to abide by the spirit of the rules of the Republican Conference, and ignored the preferences of Republican voters".

"She is weakening our conference at a key moment for personal political gain and is unfit to lead. She must step down as Conference Chair.”

Read more about Liz Cheney here

The procedural votes are done, and the vote to consider the impeachment resolution has passed.

Now, they're onto debating impeachment itself.