Rep. Al Green calls for President Trump's impeachment
Raw video: Democratic representative from Texas says the president is not above the law
Texas Rep. Al Green is planning to file a resolution next week calling for President Trump's impeachment, a move that would force fellow House Democrats to take a potentially risky vote.
While congressional Democrats uniformly oppose Trump, party leaders have pushed back on early impeachment calls. Any Democrat who votes to impeach could face a backlash, considering some live in districts or states Trump won and the party has struggled to win special elections all year on an anti-Trump message.
In a floor speech Tuesday, Green condemned Trump’s weekend attack on NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, then vowed to file the impeachment articles. However, he has declined to say on what grounds he would file the articles.
“I rise to denounce these comments that have been made because they have brought discourse to a new low,” Green said. “This is a level of indecency that is unbecoming of the presidency. … I will stand here in the well of the Congress and I will call for the impeachment of the president.”
New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee where impeachment proceedings typically begin, told The Hill in response to Green’s threat: “We’re not there yet,” despite Trump having done “really terrible things.”
He also suggested that impeachment proceedings could be more effective later, saying, ”We don’t have the evidence. We don’t have the case. … You don’t want to discredit it by voting for impeachment resolutions before you have the facts.”
House rules indicate the filing of an impeachment article would trigger a floor vote within two days.
The GOP-controlled chamber would almost certainly reject the resolution, but its filing would still result in a procedural vote that would likely have the same impact as a full House floor vote.
California Rep. Maxine Waters -- among several House Democrats who have talked about impeaching Trump -- declined to tell The Hill how she’d would vote if Green’s resolution comes up.
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