He apologized to his wife and family, but did not bow to pressure from some to resign. In September, Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Illinois) announced that the committee would begin looking into possible impeachment procedures in an open session in early October of 1998. If the measure passed, the House would vote on proceedings shortly thereafter. The country was embroiled in the scandal and potential loss of a president, the first time since Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 after impeachment proceedings began as a result of his involvement in the Watergate affair. However, polls consistently indicated a majority of the country approved of the president and did not support impeachment. Nonetheless an impeachment hearing was conducted by the House of Representatives; on December 19, 1998, the House ruled to impeach Clinton on charges of lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice in the Lewinsky affair. This made Clinton only the second president in U.S. history to face a Senate impeachment hearing. The Senate conducted a 21-day impeachment trial with Chief Justice William Rehnquist presiding. Following three days of secret deliberations, on February 12, 1999, the Senate voted 55 to 45 to reject the first article of impeachment, which alleged that President Clinton had lied while under oath in his grand jury testimony for the Paula Jones case, and voted 50 to 50 on the second article, which charged that the president had obstructed justice in covering up his relationship with Lewinsky. Without the two-thirds majority on either charge, Clinton was acquitted. Starr was under attack throughout much of his investigations of the president and first lady. In October 1999 he resigned from his post as Independent Counsel and was replaced by Robert Ray. It is estimated that Starr spent about $50 million during his term investigating President and Mrs. Clinton. .