Two swing-district Democrats voted against the resolution, Colin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. Independent Justin Amash of Michigan, who is a former Republican and staunch Trump opponent, voted for the measure.

Republicans stuck together and none voted in favor of it.

While the California Democrat has rejected calling the measure an impeachment resolution, it marked the first time Democrats went on record endorsing an impeachment investigation that began in September after an anonymous whistleblower leaked a July 25 call between Trump and the president of Ukraine.

“There is serious evidence that President Trump may have violated the constitution,” said House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, who authored the resolution. “This is about our national security and safeguarding our elections.”

McGovern said the resolution would bring transparency to the process that Republicans have been demanding since impeachment proceedings were moved into a secure, closed hearing room in the Capitol basement last month.

The measure provides the House Intelligence Committee with the authority to hold public impeachment hearings and to transfer evidence, in the form of a report, to the House Judiciary Committee, which would be tasked with drawing up impeachment articles.

The resolution provides the GOP minority the ability to request witnesses and at some point would allow Trump’s White House counsel to participate.

“It’s about transparency and it’s about due process for the president,” McGovern said.

Republicans rejected the measure and McGovern’s claim of fairness. They said it would marginalize the GOP and would not provide Trump an adequate opportunity to defend himself.

Republicans have complained that the process so far has defied precedent. Typically, the Judiciary Committee handles impeachment proceedings, not the intelligence panel. And unlike past impeachment investigations, Democrats launched theirs without first holding a House vote.

“Trying to put a ribbon on a sham process doesn’t make it any less of a sham,” Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said.

[Also read: House Democrat opposes impeachment, laments ‘failed’ process]

Democrats accuse Trump of withholding critical security aid to Ukraine in order to force Ukrainian government officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump, according to the call transcript, asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate corruption, including whether Biden sought to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor who was targeting a gas company that employed his son, Hunter Biden.

Republicans argue Trump won’t get the chance to defend himself from the charges he offered a “quid pro quo” to Ukraine, which he denies. The impeachment measure excludes the White House counsel from participating in the Intelligence Committee hearings, for example.

“The White House counsel would be shut out of this process,” said Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Republicans pointed out that the GOP would need permission from Democrats to call witnesses or to subpoena documents.

“This impeachment process is a total sham, and this resolution that seeks to legitimize it misleads the American public,” said Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko, a member of the Rules Committee.

McGovern said the GOP is dodging the underlying charges against the president, which Democrats believe threaten national security.

“Republicans want to talk about process, process, process,” said McGovern. “Not one of them wants to talk about the president’s conduct, and that speaks volumes.”

But Jordan, who has defended Trump’s actions, said Democrats have distorted the impeachment process to achieve their long-standing goal of ousting the president, which some have been seeking since the day he took office.

“Americans get fairness,” said Jordan. “They know this is an unfair and partisan process.”