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Donald Trump impeachment poll shows 49% of Americans want Trump booted out as popularity with Republicans plummets
A NEW poll shows 49 per cent of Americans believe Donald Trump should be impeached and removed from the White House.
The findings come in the wake of the House of Representatives formally voting for an impeachment inquiry into the US President.
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The Republican firebrand has been accused of attempting to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating his political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
At the same time, Trump's top aides were allegedly instructed to withhold military aid from Ukraine in its on-going conflict with Russia.
According to a new poll, just under half of Americans want the US leader removed from office - although 47 per cent believe he should remain.
This comes as the House of Representatives voted by 232 in favour of impeachment proceedings and 196 against with two Democrats opposing it.
The inquiry in the House is the first stage in the process and a trial could be held in the Senate to establish if the US President is guilty.
Two-thirds of Senators must vote in favour of impeaching Trump for him to removed.
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The new poll showed that as the proceedings have got under way, support for the brash billionaire among the Republican party has slipped from 87 per cent in July to 74 per cent.
By comparison, 82 per cent of Democrats supported Trump's removal from office and 13 per cent opposed it.
Half of all the Americans surveyed, however, disagreed with how House Democrats are trying to impeach Trump.
A further 65 per cent of American believe the Dems should have been more transparent during closed-door hearings.
This belief was echoed by House Republicans who protested and later stormed a private hearing on October 23.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a senior Democrat, has conceded her fear of losing the public's interest due to all of the details and charges, according to .
What is impeachment of the President of the United States?
Impeachment is a formal charge of serious wrongdoing against sitting a President.
It is one of the few ways they can be kicked out of the White House before an election.
The US Constitution states a President "shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours".
Presidents from George Washington onwards have often threatened with impeachment but usually their political opponents have lacked the will or support to carry it out.
The initial stage of the process comes in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress, which has "sole power of impeachment".
The House votes on whether the President should face the impeachment and a simple majority is required for that to go ahead.
Then the case would be tried by the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, where a two-thirds majority is needed.
Only two Presidents in history have been impeached.
The most recent was Bill Clinton, who was impeached in the House on charges of perjury and obstructing justice in 1998.
It related to his denials of an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
However, when the trial reached the Senate, it failed to get close to the two-thirds backing it needed to remove him from office.
The other was Andrew Johnson, who served as President for four years from 1865.
He was impeached by the House in 1868, just 11 days after he got rid of his secretary of war Edwin Stanton.
The two-thirds majority needed in the Senate was missed by just one vote.
Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached over the Watergate scandal.
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But she maintained the were "a mountain of concerns" about the President.
Despite the current controversy, Trump's approval ratings have remained stable throughout the impeachment investigation.
To this day, 38 per cent stand by him, 58 per cent disapprove of his administration and 48 per cent strongly disapprove of it.