Washington — The House rejected a resolution seeking to impeach President Trump on Tuesday, as Democrats face renewed questions about whether they would pursue impeachment if they regain control of the chamber.
The House voted 232-147 to approve a Republican motion to table the measure, with 47 lawmakers voting present. The resolution was introduced by Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas, who has led several unsuccessful efforts to impeach Mr. Trump.
Green’s resolution accused Mr. Trump of impeachable conduct related to the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. It cited the deaths of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, who were killed by federal immigration agents this year.
House Democratic leaders did not whip members to support or oppose the measure. Instead, they said in a joint statement Monday that they would vote “present” on the motion to table Green’s resolution.
“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,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California said in a statement.
“None of that serious work has been done, with the Republican majority focused solely on rubber stamping Donald Trump’s extreme agenda,” they added.
Green, who will leave Congress in January after losing a primary for his newly redrawn Houston-area district, has called for Mr. Trump’s impeachment more than a half-dozen times since the president’s first term. The House censured him last year after he shouted at Mr. Trump during an address to a joint session of Congress.
Jeffries has not ruled out seeking Mr. Trump’s impeachment if Democrats take control of the House during the remaining two years of the president’s second term.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is expected to chair the House Judiciary Committee if Democrats become the majority party, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month that lawmakers “will not hesitate” to use impeachment if necessary. He also said Mr. Trump has “undoubtedly” committed impeachable offenses.
Aguilar said Tuesday that impeachment is “not anything that is top of the agenda for House Democrats.”
