House

The House Democrats who voted to kill impeachment effort

by Cristina Marcos - 07/17/19 7:42 PM ET

A majority of House Democrats voted on Wednesday to kill an effort from Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) to impeach President Trump.

The House voted 332-95 to table a resolution from Green to impeach Trump for inflaming racial tensions, most recently after suggesting that four progressive congresswomen of color “go back” to their countries.

{mosads}A total of 137 Democrats voted with Republicans to table the resolution, while Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) voted “present.” But 95 Democrats voted in favor of Green’s effort.

Green’s resolution states that Trump has “brought the high office of the president of the United States in contempt, ridicule, disgrace and disrepute” and “has sown discord among the people of the United States.”

Wednesday marked the third time Green forced an impeachment vote on the House floor, though it was his first under Democratic leadership.

In December 2017, 58 Democrats voted in favor of Green’s impeachment measure, while 66 supported his January 2018 effort.

Leadership

The Democrats who voted to table Green’s effort included members of leadership, including House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

Clyburn and Jeffries had previously voted for similar articles of impeachment from Green in the last Congress.

Holding out for Mueller

Some lawmakers who have come out in favor of launching an impeachment inquiry voted to table Green’s resolution on Wednesday, like independent Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.), House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.).

Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who supports starting an impeachment inquiry, said he didn’t think Green’s resolution offered the best path forward given that it didn’t cite the findings in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report about Trump’s efforts to undermine the Russian election interference investigation.

“We must bring forward our best evidence on obstruction, emoluments violations, and other potential crimes – not simply focus on the president’s latest horrible remarks, harmful though they are. I worry that the House of Representatives would forfeit its vital role in this process if today’s resolution passed,” Beyer said in a statement.

Vulnerable Democrats

The Democrats who voted to table Green’s resolution also included many of the centrist freshman lawmakers representing competitive districts, like Reps. Colin Allred (Texas), Anthony Brindisi (N.Y.), Joe Cunningham (S.C.), Elaine Luria (Va.) and Jeff Van Drew (N.J.).

Six Democrats in competitive districts have come out in support of an impeachment inquiry. But some of them still voted to table Green’s resolution, including Reps. Katie Porter (Calif.), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Fla.), Sean Casten (Ill.) and Harley Rouda (Calif.). Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.), who came out in favor of an impeachment inquiry, did vote in favor of Green’s resolution on Wednesday.