@mystery-ak @Cyber Liberty@roamer_1 All arguing about what is required to begin an impeachment inquiry/investigation, are wasting time. Some may want it started differently, but that doesn't matter as it is happening as set down in the constitution/law. No House vote is required to begin an impeachment inquiry/investigation.
An impeachment inquiry
was begun by the Speaker of the House. It only requires the Speaker of the House to begin such an inquiry, which she did on Sept. 24, 2019:
"An impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump, the 45th and current president of the United States, was initiated on September 24, 2019, by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. It began after revelations that President Trump and top administration officials had allegedly pressured leaders of multiple foreign nations, most notably Ukraine, in ways presumably intended to advance Trump's personal and political interests. Additional allegations of misconduct emerged in the days afterwards."
Three House Committees came together to begin this inquiry/investigation and they are working now. They are:
Elijah Cummings of the House Oversight Committee; Adam Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee; and Eliot Engel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
If witnesses do not come forward after invited to testify and/or produce records, it is perfectly legal to issue a subpoena to require their appearance or stated records, and they
must do it. If they do not, they will end up in court and that applies to everyone, even the White House/President. With the White House/Trump calling this whole procedure unconstitutional/illegal and refusing to produce records, preventing witnesses appearing, there will be court action/orders and the witnesses and records will be sent to the committees. The Secretary of State is doing the same thing, and eventually witnesses from there plus records will go to the committees via court order.
Once the investigations are completed by the three committees, that evidence/report goes to the entire House and a vote to impeach, or not, will happen.
Note: As I said, no action is required by the House to begin an impeachment inquiry, and it is already ongoing. Taking a vote of the House now to begin the inquiry, would be window dressing, means nothing.
If the House impeaches, which means "indicts", Trump defends himself once the Senate begins the trial. The House selected members are the prosecutors in the trial, and Trump and his lawyers the defendant, and the Senate is the Jury. At the end of this trial, if convicted, the Senate removes him from office, or they don't convict him and he remains in office.