On Thursday night, the House of Representatives voted against an effort to impeach President Donald Trump. In a surprising turn, 23 Democrats joined Republicans to pull back a motion put forth by Rep. Al Green from Texas.
After a prior vote aimed at impeaching Trump, Green criticized the president, labeling him an “abuser of presidential power.” He expressed worries about the president allegedly fostering “relentless hatred,” which he argues puts American lives at risk while also undermining democracy and dismantling the republic.
Green urged military and intelligence officials to defy “unlawful orders” from Trump’s administration, suggesting that had these orders come from any other president, they would have been rejected. He even went as far as to say that the insurrection warranted severe consequences, implying that the opposition would likely support impeachment.
He called on his fellow senators to “take a stand” against Trump, evoking the values of civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rep. John Lewis from Georgia.
In his impassioned speech, he declared, “I will take a stand to protect government of the people, by the people, and for the people. I will take a stand to impeach this abuser of presidential power. Even if I have to stand alone, I will do so, because to me, it is better to stand alone on this issue than not stand at all.”
Following this, House Minority Leader Steve Scalise from Louisiana introduced a motion that closely mirrored Green’s proposal, and it received overwhelming support.
HR939 was aimed at impeaching Trump for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The vote tallied at 237-140, with 47 votes categorized as “current.”
Nearly 20 Democrats, including Reps. Tom Suozzi, Josh Riley, and Jared Golden, opted to support the bill. Others like Rep. Goodlander, Rep. Sharice David, Rep. Don Davis, and Rep. Shomali Figures also voted in favor.
All “current” votes were from Democrats, with some members switching votes just before the polls closed, as reported by Axios.
All three leaders of the Democratic party in the House—Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, and Pete Aguilar—voted to “attend.”
The impeachment motion had already been introduced by the Green Party in June, gaining support from all Republicans and a notable number of Democrats, resulting in a final vote of 344-79.
