Thanks!............
Posted on 09/27/2017 9:38:59 AM PDT by Red Badger
Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) on Tuesday threatened to force a House floor vote next week on impeaching President Trump, creating a new dilemma for his party’s leaders.
Green said he would file an impeachment resolution next week while condemning Trump’s attacks on NFL players who have kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality.
Because the resolution is considered privileged under House rules, it would automatically force action on the House floor within two days.
ADVERTISEMENT While House Republicans would presumably reject the resolution, Green could still force a procedural vote that would put his colleagues on the spot on impeachment.
“I rise to say to the world that this is not what America is all about,” Green said during a House floor speech on Tuesday as he condemned Trump’s attacks on athletes.
“I will stand here in the well of the Congress, and I will call for the impeachment of the president of the United States of America,” he said.
Green did not say what the exact argument for impeachment in his resolution will be and declined to offer specific details.
Democrats have had no problem criticizing Trump, but most have stopped well short of calls for impeachment, worried it could backfire on them as it did on Bill Clinton-era Republicans.
Most rank-and-file Democrats worry that rushing to endorse impeachment proceedings would look like an overreach.
Impeachment proceedings have traditionally begun in the House Judiciary Committee, which would hold hearings and vote on articles to remove a president before sending them to the full chamber for consideration.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, said, “We’re not there yet” even though he thinks Trump has done “really terrible things.”
Nadler is hardly the kind of Democrat who would have to worry about an impeachment vote alienating swing voters back home: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won 78 percent of his Manhattan-area district in 2016.
“I don’t want to vote on impeachment. I think it’s too early. We don’t have the evidence; we don’t have the case,” Nadler told The Hill.
Nadler said he could not support an impeachment resolution if it were brought to the floor next week. Forcing a vote on impeachment now could make it harder for Democrats to justify a case in the future if events warranted, he warned.
“You don’t want to discredit it by voting for impeachment resolutions before you have the facts,” Nadler said.
Even Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a vocal Trump critic who has also called for impeachment, declined to say how she would vote if Green’s resolution came to the floor.
But she added: “At some point in time, impeachment is inevitable.”
Green isn’t the first Democrat to raise the possibility of forcing a vote on impeachment. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) suggested over the summer that he might force a vote on his article of impeachment alleging that Trump obstructed justice by firing James Comey as FBI director amid the agency’s investigation of potential collusion with the Russian government.
Sherman at the time faced pushback from Democrats who warned that forcing a vote on impeachment could hurt fellow Democrats and candidates trying to unseat Republicans in swing districts.
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), who was among the Democrats to raise objections at the time, reiterated Tuesday that any lawmaker seeking to force a vote on impeachment should consult the rest of the caucus.
“I think that anybody who’s going to bring something like that to the floor has an obligation to talk to his colleagues before he does it,” Capuano said.
Only a handful of Democrats have endorsed impeaching Trump. Green signed on to the article of impeachment filed by Sherman in July, which remains the only measure introduced in Congress to remove Trump from office.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed censuring Trump after he gave an equivocating response to the violent clashes between white supremacists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va., last month. But she has been careful to distance herself from impeachment efforts, saying that Democrats should wait for a full accounting of Russia’s role in the 2016 election and focus on other legislative efforts in the meantime.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) announced in August that he would file articles of impeachment in response to Trump’s handling of the events in Charlottesville. Cohen has not yet followed through on introducing an impeachment measure, but said Tuesday he planned to do so sooner rather than later.
The plan has two aspects: 1) Prevent any legislative action to help Trump or to place him and his agenda in a good light; and 2) Provoke him into an action which could be portrayed as "impeachable". This is why Mueller is begging to be fired. This is why a resolution for his signature condemning the innocent victims of antifa violence for fighting back in Charlottesville was pushed by Ryan and McConnell. This is why there are always 3 GOP Senators to stop passage of a healthcare bill. This is why Corker, in his announcement hat he would not run in 2018 said, “I also believe the most important public service I have to offer our country could well occur over the next 15 months” (hint, hint).
The Democrats who want Trump impeached are not important. The Republicans who are coordinating the effort behind the scenes are a big problem.
I like what you did there...
Mad Maxine was right about one thing, “high crime and misdemeanor” means whatever the Congress says it is..............
Thanks!............
Dems force a vote? I don’t think so.
Exactly!
Gee, I dunno but between Al and Barry White—greatest make-out music, ever. Why he be so covfefe tintinnabulated?
Given the RINOs in Congress, anything is possible.
The glass house dwellers better beware before throwing stones .
“Democrats want to impeach the President for being patriotic.”
And they will be shocked that there is civil disobedience directed at them as a result. And there will be...
It will get interesting if the whole Black Caucus says “impeach” and the DNC says no.
So, now, a "High Crime or Misdemeanor" is having an opinion as regards proper respect for the National Anthem or the Flag.
Yeah, I'd say file. In fact, file on something new -- and equally trivial -- every week.
Dilute your brand and weaken your attacks.
This must be for the ‘folks back home’ to consume.
Either these morons really are as stupid as they sound, or they are getting ‘pressure’ from their constituencies, who are even more ignorant than their representatives are..................
This must be for the ‘folks back home’ to consume.
Either these morons really are as stupid as they sound, or they are getting ‘pressure’ from their constituencies, who are even more ignorant than their representatives are..................
There is an election coming up. This is a “red meat” for his base.
Republicans will soon have to begin defending President Trump against these baseless attacks or find themselves voted out of office by their base.
They have had a year of fun and games but the time of decision is coming up. Do your stand with America or do you stand with those who wish to destroy America. Choose now or the choice will be made for you.
Where the hell is OUR ‘red meat’?.......................
Bring it on Commiecrats!! Can’t wait!!
I am surprised at how many liberals seem convinced if President Trump is impeached Hillary becomes President.
Schools don’t teach actual history or civics any more and it is really beginning to show.
Liberals think reciting the pledge, standing for our anthem, respecting our flag, learning citizenship, taking pride in our country- are all part of brainwashing.
Liberals now stand against everything this country is about, they seem to be marching off of a cliff...
"We're gonna impeach the President for...uh...something." Best of luck with that one. This doesn't "trap" the Republicans into defending Trump so much as it "traps" the Dems and the media into admitting that they want to govern by diktat, with an election looming for everyone who voted for it in the House. That will not end well.
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