Nearly two dozen House Democrats voted to table a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump on Thursday, joining Republicans to prevent the effort from moving forward.
The articles of impeachment filed by Representative Al Green, a Texas Democrat, were opposed by 23 Democrats while an additional 47 voted “present.” The majority of House Democrats, 140 lawmakers, voted against tabling the resolutions. Additionally, 214 House Republicans voted to table the effort, while six did not vote.
The resolution listed two articles: the first accused Trump of abusing presidential power by calling for the “execution of members of Congress” in response to a video posted by several Democratic lawmakers. Trump’s post on Truth Social, which stated “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” drew condemnation though the White House later clarified he did not seek executions. The second article accused Trump of threatening judicial independence by attacking federal judges online, an action the resolution claims led to threats of violence against judges.
Green’s effort was not expected to succeed, and the Democratic lawmaker has introduced similar unsuccessful resolutions previously. Democratic leadership pushed back on the Texas lawmaker’s effort in a statement ahead of the vote.
“Impeachment is a sacred constitutional vehicle designed to hold a corrupt executive accountable for abuse of power, breaking the law and violating the public trust. The effort traditionally requires a comprehensive investigative process, the collection and review of thousands of documents, an exacting scrutiny of the facts, the examination of dozens of key witnesses, Congressional hearings, sustained public organizing and the marshaling of the forces of democracy to build a broad national consensus. None of that serious work has been done, with the Republican majority focused solely on rubber stamping Donald Trump’s extreme agenda,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a joint statement
“We will be voting ‘present’ on today’s motion to table the impeachment resolution as we continue our fight to make life more affordable for everyday Americans,” the top House Democrats added.
In brief floor remarks after filing the articles of impeachment, Green said, “if ever there was a person who ought to be impeached, it’s Donald John Trump.” The Texas Democrat continued, “there are many people who don’t want to see this happen, they don’t want to vote for impeachment.”
“Well, there were people who didn’t want to cross Edmund Pettus Bridge, but they marched on,” he said. “I shall march on.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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