Majority Of Democrats, Republicans Vote Down Trump Impeachment Motion
Update: As was widely expected, the House voted down a measure that would have opened the door to impeaching President Trump, the New York Times reports.
The measure was introduced by Texas Rep. Al Green, who had repeatedly introduced similar measures before Democrats took control of the House in January. Green said he introduced the measure because Trump's racist comments - for telling members of the "squad" to 'go back to your own country' - justified impeachment.
The vote was 332-95 to table - that is, kill - Green's resolution. Democrats voted 137-95 with one voting "present", and Republicans voted Rep. Al Green's (D-TX) impeachment resolution. Democrats 137-95 (with 1 voting "present") Republicans unanimously voted against it 194-0 and the newly independent Justin Amash also voted against.
* * *
After Texas Rep. Al Green introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump for the third time yesterday, House Democrats are preparing to vote on Wednesday afternoon on whether to move forward with the process, Politico reports.
While this is Green's third time introducing letters of impeachment, it's the first time since Democrats took control of the House in January. And after the House voted to formally condemn Trump over his "racist" tweets, more lawmakers might be feeling compelled to defy Nancy Pelosi's "no impeachment" policy and side with "the squad" and their allies.
As The Washington Post reports, Green's move will force House Democrats to deal with the issue in the near term because of the privileged nature of the resolution.
Under House rules, Democratic leadership can decide to try to table the impeachment articles, effectively killing them for now and risk criticism from the party's liberal base; refer them to the House Judiciary Committee for possible consideration; or allow the vote to proceed.
If leaders do nothing, Green can force a vote on the impeachment articles within two legislative days of introducing the articles. To be clear, the vote wouldn't impeach Trump, it would merely be the first procedural step toward impeachment.
The move comes as more than 80 members of the House have called for launching an impeachment inquiry, but the floor vote will also force all House Democrats to go on the record about an issue where they have yet to reach consensus.
It appears that Green is planning to exercise his ability to force a vote on the articles.
No comments:
Post a Comment