Led by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), 58 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted today to move forward with articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, a move that was resoundingly rejected.
Green forced the vote by using a privileged resolution, which means he did not have to get consent from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), who, as the majority party leader, controls what can and can’t be brought to the floor.
Technically, Green’s motion didn’t force the House to vote on impeachment proceedings. Instead, Republican leadership put forth a vote to table his motion, which 364 members of the House agreed too, including over 130 Democrats.
In a statement on the matter, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), along with Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), said that now wasn’t the time to move to impeach the president.
“This President has made statements and taken actions that are beyond the pale for most Americans, embracing those who espouse hatred and division while promoting policies that would harm our economy and undermine our national security. Legitimate questions have been raised about his fitness to lead this nation. Right now, Congressional committees continue to be deeply engaged in investigations into the President’s actions both before and after his inauguration. The special counsel’s investigation is moving forward as well, and those inquiries should be allowed to continue. Now is not the time to consider articles of impeachment.”
Still, nearly 60 Democrats publicly backed Green, who has been pushing articles of impeachment since May.
Below is a full list of the Democrats who signed on to support Green’s motion.
Here are House Dems who supported beginning debate on Trump’s impeachment pic.twitter.com/eCpyurD429
— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) December 6, 2017
In a memo beforehand, Green said forcing a vote was of the utmost importance.
“As I have said before, this is not about Democrats, it is about democracy. It is not about Republicans, it is about the fate of our Republic,” Green wrote. “May everyone vote their conscience knowing that history will judge us all.”
H/T BuzzFeed
