A divided House approved legislation Thursday formally authorizing and articulating guidelines for the next phase of its impeachment inquiry, a move that signaled Democrats are on course to bring charges against President Trump later this year.

The 232-196 vote, which hewed closely to party lines, was likely to fuel the partisan fighting that has accompanied every stage of the impeachment probe and much of the Trump presidency. Nearly all Democrats backed the resolution, and House Republicans, who spent weeks clamoring for such a vote, opposed it.

At issue is whether Trump abused the power of his office to pressure a foreign leader to investigate his domestic political rivals.

In remarks before the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) described the impeachment inquiry as a “solemn” and “prayerful” process — “not cause for any glee or comfort.”

At the same time, Pelosi said, “I don’t know why Republicans are afraid of the truth.”

“Every member should support the American people hearing the facts for themselves,” she said in a floor speech. “That is what this vote is about. It’s about the truth. And what is at stake in all of this is nothing less than our democracy.”

House Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to undo the results of the 2016 election with “Soviet-style proceedings” against Trump.

“We’ve seen since the day that President Trump was inaugurated that there have been some people who made it public that they wanted to impeach him,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) said on the floor. “...That, madam speaker, is not why you impeach a president.”

“Don’t run a tainted process like this [resolution] ensures,” he said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called the impeachment inquiry “an attempt to undo the last election” and “an attempt to influence the next one as well.”

The House’s resolution clears the way for nationally televised hearings as Democrats look to make their case to the American people that Trump should be impeached.

At the same time, House investigators were hearing testimony from Timothy Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on the National Security Council, who was expected to corroborate testimony from a senior U.S. diplomat who gave the most detailed account of the alleged quid pro quo.

Democratic leaders expected that two to four of their members would vote against the resolution. In the end, Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.), who represent Republican-leaning districts, opposed it.

Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.), one of the few Trump-district Democrats who has been reluctant about backing an impeachment inquiry, voted yes.

“It’s about transparency in the process; I like the fact that the transcripts will be made public and the American public will get the chance to understand what’s going on,” he said Wednesday, adding that he still is not convinced Trump needs to be impeached. “I am not prejudging anything . . . until I see all the evidence.”

Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.), who was undecided as of Wednesday night, also supportd the resolution.

“I think the vote will allow a fair and open process and will finally let Americans judge for themselves,” Brindisi told Syracuse.com Thursday morning.

The House’s resolution allows the president and his counsel to request and query witnesses and participate in impeachment proceedings once they reach the Judiciary Committee, which is tasked with writing any articles of impeachment that will be voted on by the House. It also authorizes the House Intelligence Committee to release transcripts of its closed-door depositions to the public, and it directs the committee to write and then release a report on that investigation in the same fashion.

The resolution gives the Republican minority on both the Intelligence and Judiciary committees a chance to subpoena documents and testimony — provided that either the Democratic chairman or a majority of the committee agrees. And it establishes special procedures under which the chairman and top Republican on the panel can take up to 90 minutes to make their cases or defer to a staff lawyer to do so.

Before the roll call on Thursday morning, partisan tensions were visible on the floor of the House, as Democrats called attention to mounting evidence against Trump while Republicans decried the process as secretive and unfair.

“This moment calls for more than politics,” said House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) in a speech. “If we don’t hold this president accountable, we will be ceding our ability to hold any president accountable.”

“It’s a sad day for all of us,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), McGovern’s counterpart. “It’s not a fair process. It’s not an open process.”

Leading Republicans were adamant that not a single GOP member wwould back the measure — and they leaned heavily on Republicans who have openly criticized the president in the past.

“It is still not a fair process in my mind,” said Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who, like most Republicans, voted against the resolution. “It is still a process where the Democrats call all the shots and we were not consulted along the way. . . . So, no. I’m a no.”

The resolution does not deal with the merits of impeaching the president, just procedure. But even Republicans who have expressed concern about points of Trump’s conduct — such as Walden, who Democrats believe could be swayable on an ultimate impeachment vote — held the party line on Thursday.

Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), who like Walden recently announced his upcoming retirement and has refused to rule out voting to impeach Trump, also voted against the measure.