A sharply divided U.S. House voted Thursday to approve a resolution setting “ground rules” for the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, putting lawmakers on record over the contentious process while setting the stage for proceedings to move into the public eye after weeks of closed-door depositions.

The measure passed largely along party lines, 232-196. Two Democrats defected to join Republicans in voting no.

All but one of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation voted against the measure.

U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn of Oklahoma City, the state’s sole Democrat in Washington, voted in favor, commenting that “this is not a vote for impeachment. It is a vote to create clear rules for effective public hearings and ensure transparency.”

Oklahoma Senior Sen. James Inhofe issued a lengthy statement:

“Today, House Democrats passed a partisan resolution opening a formal inquiry after weeks of secret hearings and meetings.

“It didn’t get a single Republican vote.

“[Speaker of the House Nancy] Pelosi’s resolution doesn’t follow the historical precedent of the Clinton and Nixon impeachment process in three important ways that show how partisan this effort is:

“First, this resolution doesn’t allow President Trump’s lawyers to participate in hearings and see evidence. Clinton and Nixon were both given this right, but House Democrats are not allowing President Trump’s lawyers to do this.

“Second, this resolution doesn’t give House Republican subpoena power, which the minority was allowed to do in the Nixon and Clinton impeachments. Instead, House Republicans must get Democrats’ permission to subpoena a witness.

“Third, this resolution was not crafted on a bipartisan basis. There was no input from Republicans in this document. In the Clinton and Nixon impeachments, the minority was involved in the entire process, but that is not the case today.

“What their resolution says is this: Trump doesn’t get due process now, he might get some later…but only if the Democrats feel like it.

“This is unacceptable. The Democrats made up their mind to impeach Trump three years ago before he even took offi ce.

“They want to remove President Trump from office no matter the facts.

“They want to play political games. We aren’t going to let that happen. We stand with President Trump.”

Sen. James Lankford issued this statement:

“Unfortunately, the impeachment hearings and information-gathering sessions have been held largely behind closed doors, so there is very little information available to the public or many members of Congress about the evidence or content of the investigation. The only two documents available to review in their entirety were released by the White House.”

U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, representing Oklahoma’s Third District, including Kingfisher County, issued the following statement:

“The process before the House should have been based on three pillars: facts, truth, and accountability.

“The impeachment process is one of the most impactful responsibilities a Member of Congress shares with his or her colleagues.

“As an institution of, by, and for the people, the House should always strive to be inherently factual and objectively truthful. Yet sadly, the spirit at which this process has been conducted is far from what it should be.

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chairman Adam Schiff have broken with their congressional predecessors by disregarding regular order, consequently leaving the American people in the dark. The process which Democrats have long called transparent and formal has been anything but that.

“This process isn’t fair. And the procedures adopted today do nothing to correct that. The process the House has laid out with the passage of this resolution fails to preserve the right of the minority, it fails to ensure the right of due process for the President, and it fails to guarantee that the alleged evidence be published for the American people to judge for themselves.

“This investigation and those participating should have been factual, truthful, and accountable to the American people from the beginning, yet instead the House is proceeding with a process that is just another partisan exercise- one House Democrats have been pushing since the day President Trump was sworn in.”

The first formal fl oor vote in relation to the impeachment probe announced a month ago by Speaker Nancy Pelosi followed a fierce debate in the chamber, where Republicans accused Democrats of launching a de facto “coup” against the president in a “pre-ordained” bid to overturn the results of the 2016 election.

“A yes vote on this resolution today gives a stamp of approval to a process that has been damaged beyond all repair and a blatant and obvious coup to unseat a sitting president of the United States,” Rep. Ross Spano, R-Fla., said Thursday.

Democrats, though, maintained that the president’s own actions – pressing Ukraine to launch politically related investigations, and allegedly using military aid as leverage – brought the country to this point.

“I do not take any pleasure in the need for this resolution,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said. “We are here because the facts compel us to be here.”

Showmanship and heated rhetoric marked the lead-up to the vote. Pelosi stood beside a giant placard of an American flag while declaring Congress was “defending our democracy.”

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., accused Democrats of being part of a “cult,” suggesting Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is its leader.

President Trump tweeted after the vote: “The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!”

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement that the President has done nothing wrong.

“With today’s (Thursday’s) vote, Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats have done nothing more than enshrine unacceptable violations of due process into House rules,” she said.