The Democratic-led House of Representatives once again rejected articles of impeachment against President Trump on Wednesday.
The House voted to table Rep. Al Green’s article of impeachment 332 to 95, the third time his effort has gone down in defeat.
Green made his latest impeachment attempt Tuesday evening after the House voted to condemn Trump’s “racist” tweets against four freshman progressive female Democrats known as “the Squad,” saying the measure doesn’t go far enough.
“The president was condemned, today we’ll have a vote to punish,” Green told C-SPAN’s Washington Journal earlier Wednesday.
“We have to punish the president, and impeachment is the means by which he can be punished in the House and then it goes to the Senate for a trial. … We ought to impeach this president for his bigotry.”
The Texas Democrat forced action on impeachment using a procedural move that requires floor action within two legislative days. He’s done it twice before under the Republican-controlled House. In December 2017, Green used the “privileged resolution” move to force a vote and 58 Democrats agreed with him. The number improved to 66 Democrats voting in support of articles of impeachment in January 2018.
Among those Democrats who voted in support of moving forward with the articles of impeachment were New York Rep. Jerry Nadler and all four members of the progressive Squad of freshman congresswomen: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.).
Green’s most recent articles of impeachment say Trump is unfit to be president because he’s increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color. Green cites Trump’s comments against immigrants, asylum seekers and his “racist” tweets against the freshman Squad.
While the House was taking its vote, Trump briefly addressed the media as he left the White House to board a helicopter bound for a Make America Great Again rally in North Carolina.
“I’m enjoying it because I have to get the word out to the American people,” said Trump of his feud with the Squad. “We’re not going to be a socialist country. It’s not going to happen.”
Since the release of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation – which found insufficient evidence to show a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to meddle in the 2016 election but left open the question on whether Trump obstructed justice – the number of House members calling for a Trump impeachment inquiry has grown to more than 80 Democrats and one independent, Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and moderate members of the caucus have not gotten on board, believing impeachment is politically divisive and detrimental in swing districts that Democrats need to retain.
“With all the respect in the world for [Green], we have six committees that are working [and] following the facts in terms of any abuse of power, obstruction of justice and the rest that the president may have engaged in,” Pelosi (Calif.) said Wednesday. “That is the serious path that we are on.”
House leadership viewed the action as premature. They wanted the focus to be on Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees next week, which had the potential to influence public opinion and sway fence-sitters.