The Illinois House of Representatives voted on Friday to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich, which sets up a Senate trial to decide whether he should be thrown out of office on charges of abuse of power, including attempting to sell the senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

He is the first Illinois governor to be impeached.

Representatives voted 114-1 for impeachment, a day after a special investigative panel of legislators recommended the move.

A two-thirds vote is required in the Senate to convict Blagojevich and remove him. The chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court will preside over the trial. It could start as soon as Jan. 26, two weeks after the next legislature takes office, a spokesman for Sen. John Cullerton said, according to Reuters.

It's our duty to clean up this mess and stop the freak show that has become government in Illinois, said Representative Jack D. Franks, according to the New York Times.

I believe we're finally doing what we should have done a long time ago, he added.

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