Six House Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump yesterday (November 15).
Representative Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), the ranking Dem on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, joined with Representatives Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), Al Green (D-Texas), Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) to introduce the resolution. It accuses the president of offenses in several areas, including:
- Obstruction of justice for his interference in the investigation into collusion between his campaign and Russia
- Violation of the foreign emoluments rule for his business dealings, including profiting from hosting events paid for by foreign governments at his properties
- Violation of the domestic emoluments rule for his business dealings, including his refusal to divest his assets and release his tax returns
- Undermining the rule of law for many actions, including pardoning former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio after he refused to halt his discriminatory policing
- Undermining the freedom of the press
Congressman Steve Cohen: "We believe that donald j. trump has violated the Constitution, and we’ve introduced five articles of impeachment." pic.twitter.com/rj0B7YgU2S
— Blocka Flocka Flame (@GregariousAli) November 15, 2017
“In the nearly 300 days since he was sworn in, it has become evident that President Trump is a clear and present danger to our democracy. It is high time that Congress take a serious look at the pPresident’s actions,” Fudge said in a statement about the resolution. “If those actions are found to be in violation of the Constitution, then the Congress of the United States needs to do the job the American people elected us to do.”
Cohen tweeted his intent back in August, saying that Trump’s comments following the racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia were his breaking point:
After comments on #Charlottesville , I’ll be introducing Articles of #Impeachment against #Trump. No good Nazis or Klansmen! #ImpeachTrump pic.twitter.com/x6pWL35evL
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) August 17, 2017
But, as NBC News reports, the effort is not likely to result in a change in the White House:
Indeed, the large majority of Democrats seem intent on having nothing to do with the effort either as lawmakers await the results of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Democratic leaders have argued that the impeachment campaign riles up Trump’s GOP base, a critical bloc in next year’s midterm elections.
And with both the House and Senate controlled by Trump’s party, there is little chance of garnering support to move forward. In fact, this group is not the first to attempt impeachment. Representatives Al Green (D-Texas) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) introduced articles of impeachment in July. The resolution is still sitting with the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Per NBC News, Republican National Committee rapid response director Michael Ahrens dismissed the articles in a statement, saying, “House Democrats lack a positive message and are completely unwilling to work across the aisle, so instead they’ve decided to support a baseless radical effort that the vast majority of Americans disagree with.”
Per Five Thirty Eight’s daily poll of the poll’s, Trump’s approval rating is currently 37.9 percent (his disapproval rating is 55.7 percent). On his 301st day in office, President Barack’s approval rating was 51.4 percent.
The video below breaks down how impeachment works, and why it does not necessarily mean that its target will be removed from office.