Rep. Al Green (D-TX) read an impeachment on the House floor Wednesday, saying that President Trump lacks fitness for the office and is undermining its integrity. “Enough is enough,” he said, and argued that Trump should be removed from office under the 25th Amendment. Green pulled back from forcing a vote, however, under apparent pressure from other Democrats.
“I rise today on behalf of the many who have concluded that enough is enough,” Green said during his opening remarks. “I rise today to speak on behalf of the many persons who believe that Article 2, Section 4 of the Constitution of the United States of America has meaning and that it is something that is appropriate for a time such as this.”
Why he’s calling for Trump impeachment
He said that Trump had incited “hatred, bigotry, and invidious discrimination” against the American people, including “high crimes and misdemeanors,” had “undermined the integrity of his office with impunity” and “brought disrepute on the presidency with immunity and betrayed his trust as president to the manifest injury of the American people.”
Green introduced the articles under rules that would force a rapid vote, but didn’t appear when the House’s presiding officer called for it, the Washington Post reported. Green later told reporters he wanted his colleagues to have more time to review the resolution before it was voted on.
Why didn’t they vote on the Trump impeachment articles?
But the Post reported that multiple Democratic sources convinced Green to pull back because the vote would be premature. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, among others, want the investigations being pursued by congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller to play out. “I’m not an impeachment enthusiast,” said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the assistant Democratic leader and highest-ranking African American in the House, citing the Republican majority. “Where you going to get the majority of the votes? So it’s just an empty gesture.”
Indeed, Republicans were eager to hold a vote on the bill. They planned to move to table it, which would kill it outright.
