Rep. Al Green (D-TX) told the House floor this week that he plans to introduce new articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump as soon as next week, the latest in a string of impeachment attempts he has pursued since Trump’s first term.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give notice that as early as next week, I will call for a vote to impeach Donald John Trump, President of the United States of America,” Green said, adding that he does not take the step “lightly.”
Green, whose district covers parts of the Houston area, described himself in dramatic terms as he opened his remarks. “I rise today as an unelected, yet still effective, unbought, unbossed, unelected, liberated Democrat. I rise, censured, but not silenced. Censured, but not silenced,” he said, telling colleagues he was speaking in the “name of liberty and justice” for all.
The congressman tied his planned impeachment effort to an earlier, unsuccessful push to impeach Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Green repeatedly cited the 204 House members who voted to keep that Hegseth impeachment effort alive, even though it ultimately failed.
“The 204 people who voted to move the articles of impeachment forward demonstrated that they are not complicit collaborators; that it was not a waste of time, and it won’t be a waste of time when we bring these next articles,” Green said.
He argued that lawmakers who were willing to pursue action against Hegseth but not against Trump would be engaging in a “double standard.”
“I don’t know how we will escape voting no to impeach the president of the United States of America, the commander-in-chief,” Green said. “How we can ignore what has happened with him, hope to impeach Mr. Hegseth when the articles that I will present will have, in essence, the same charges, but they are the charges as they apply to the president.”
Green argued that both Trump and Hegseth bear responsibility. “There will be people who will vote to impeach the person who was following orders, but they won’t vote to impeach the person who gave the orders,” he said. “Both are culpable, but this man should not escape his culpability simply because this man carried out the orders.”
“They both should be impeached, and within the next week or so, as soon as next week, we will have an opportunity to show the world that we believe that the subordinate should not be the only person who is charged and brought to justice,” Green said.
He also argued that a lengthy investigation would not be necessary before a vote, pointing again to the Hegseth case. “The 204 persons demonstrated by their vote that you don’t have to have a prolonged investigation to bring orders of impeachment to the floor,” Green said. “There was no investigation… We don’t have to have an investigation in all cases.”
This would not be Green’s first attempt at impeaching Trump. He has pushed similar efforts repeatedly across both of Trump’s terms. Most recently, in September, the House rejected a Green-led impeachment resolution against Trump by a vote of 232-147.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login