If you know Rep. Al Green (D-TX), you know that he is obsessed with impeaching Donald Trump.
During Trump’s first term, Green failed repeatedly in his efforts, but that did not stop him from coming after the president again.
You would think he would have hesitated to proceed after the failed impeachment effort launched by Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), but Green had to learn the hard way, again.
I would wager that nobody even knew who Thanedar was before he tried to impeach Trump almost immediately after he began his second term in the Oval Office.
In April, suddenly, Thanedar was all over the media announcing that he was going to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump. At the time, he stated, “[Trump’s] unlawful actions have subverted the justice system, violated the separation of powers, and placed personal power and self-interest above public service. We cannot wait for more damage to be done. Congress must act.”
His efforts failed, and he was out of the media spotlight for a while, but he tried again, only this time he went after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. While introducing his effort to impeach Hegseth, he stated, “He’s incompetent. He’s, you know, violated -- he has committed war crimes. He must go.”
Now, Rep. Green is coming after Trump once more, after having failed to impeach Trump multiple times. It almost seems like every time the sun comes up, Green files new impeachment papers against this president.
In a press release about the move, Green claimed, “This resolution asserts that President Trump is an abuser of presidential power who, if left in office, will continue to promote violence, engender invidious hate, undermine our democracy, and dissolve our Republic, and that he is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.”
He then went on to explain the charges, “Article I pertains to President Trump calling for the execution of six Democratic lawmakers, all of whom are currently serving in the U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives, and who previously served in the U.S. Military or in U.S. Intelligence communities.”
Green continued, “Article II describes how President Trump has fostered a political climate in which lawmakers and judges face threats of political violence and physical assault, has made threats and vituperative comments against federal judges, putting their safety and well-being at risk, and is undermining the independence of our judiciary.”
I have stated several times that I believe if Dems take the House and Senate back in 2026, or even just the House, they are likely to try to impeach Trump again. But right now, they don’t have the numbers to succeed, and realistic Democrats are not going to waste their time on an impeachment bid that is destined to fail.
So, Green’s effort was defeated when nearly two dozen Democrats voted with the GOP in the House. Aside from the 23 Democrats who voted against the impeachment, there were a notable number of members who simply voted “present” when the papers were presented.
Not only that, but Democrat leadership blasted Green for rushing through the process. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), and House Democrat Caucus Chairman Pete Agullar (D-CA) wrote, "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.”
The statement continued, "None of that serious work has been done, with the Republican majority focused solely on rubber stamping Donald Trump’s extreme agenda. Accordingly, 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."
As you just read, while also trying to deflect blame onto Republicans, Democrats realize that there is no way Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would ever allow impeachment articles to hit the floor. But the way that statement reads, a shot was just fired across the bow of the White House. If Democrats reclaim the House, a very serious impeachment effort will almost certainly be launched against Trump. It will be 2022 all over again.
