Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) filed articles of impeachment against President Trump on Tuesday. The process for this effort will force a House floor vote by the end of this week.
Green introduced his articles of impeachment after the House passed a resolution largely along party lines condemning Trump for suggesting that four progressive freshman congresswomen of color should “go back” to their countries. The congresswomen in question are: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).
Green said that the House should go beyond condemning Trump and move to remove him from office. This will be the third impeachment floor vote forced by Green in the last two years, but the first since Democrats took control of the House.
Rep. Green previously forced procedural votes on articles of impeachment against Trump in December 2017 and January 2018. Both efforts drew the support of about 60 House Democrats.
Now a total of 84 House Democrats currently support launching an impeachment inquiry. But Democratic leaders — and the majority of the caucus — are not yet on board as they seek to continue ongoing investigations of the Trump administration.
A floor vote will force all House Democrats to go on the record about this issue about which they have yet to reach consensus.
Green read his articles of impeachment out loud on the House floor, saying Trump is “unfit to defend the ideals that have made America great” and “unfit to ensure domestic tranquillity” and “promote the general welfare.”
Just like in his previous articles of impeachment, Green accused Trump of having “sown seeds of discord among the people of the United States” by inflaming racial tensions and “brought the high office of president of the United States in contempt, ridicule, disgrace and disrepute.”
Green is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. He forced the vote in January 2018 after The Washington Post reported Trump described African nations as “sh*thole countries.”