Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) said that he plans to introduce his articles of impeachment against President Trump on Tuesday night and will force a House floor vote on them in the coming days.
Green said in a statement that he will read his articles of impeachment “before the close of the business today.”
A spokeswoman for Green said that he has informed Democratic leaders of his plans.
The House is scheduled to vote later Tuesday on a resolution to formally condemn Trump for tweets in which he told four nonwhite, progressive freshman congresswomen — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — to “go back” to their countries. Only Omar, a Somali refugee who is an American citizen, was born outside the U.S.
Green said the comments pushed him to force a vote on impeachment, which will be the first since Democrats took over the House majority in January. Green previously forced two procedural votes on his articles of impeachment in December 2017 and January 2018 while Republicans controlled the House. Both efforts drew the support of about 60 Democrats.{mosads}
Green argued that the House shouldn’t stop at condemning Trump’s remarks targeting the freshman congresswomen.
“To condemn a racist president is not enough, we must impeach him. This will be a defining vote. The world is watching, and history will judge us all,” Green said in his statement.
In a House floor speech earlier Tuesday, Green said his latest impeachment measure would be similar to his previous articles of impeachment that accused Trump of inflaming racial tensions in America.
Under House rules, the chamber would have to take up Green’s resolution within two legislative days after he introduced it. Introducing the resolution on Tuesday would mean a floor vote — either a direct up-or-down vote or a motion to table it — by Thursday.
Some Democrats in favor of impeachment said Tuesday that Green’s timing isn’t ideal.
Green dismissed the idea that his impeachment effort could draw more support after Mueller testifies next week.
“The Mueller testimony will have no impact on this,” Green told reporters outside the House chamber. “They’re totally separate issues in terms of impeachment.”
His latest effort comes amid mounting support for an impeachment inquiry, albeit one focused on the Trump administration’s handling of Democratic investigations and not the president’s controversial rhetoric. Even those who favor an impeachment inquiry say Green’s decision to force a floor vote won’t help their efforts.
Green offered a preview of his latest impeachment measure, saying that it asserts that Trump “has, by his statements, brought the high office of President of the United States in contempt, ridicule, disgrace and disrepute, has sown discord among the people of the United States.”
Earlier Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that Democratic leaders hadn’t yet established a strategy for the vote Green is threatening. But Hoyer suggested that he wouldn’t try to prevent Green from forcing the vote.
“I think he feels strongly about it, and if he deems it appropriate to offer it, he’ll offer it,” Hoyer said. “I’m not going to try to discourage him. He has to do what he thinks is right.”
But Hoyer reiterated that Democratic leaders think pushing for impeachment at this point is premature, noting that former special counsel Robert Mueller is testifying before Congress next week about his report’s findings on whether Trump obstructed justice in his investigation of Russia’s election interference.
“I think we need to hear from [Mueller] and analyze what he had to say,” Hoyer said. “I think there’s a lot of information to come, and we’ll see — as the Speaker has said — where it leads us.”