128 Democrats Helped Republicans Kill a Resolution to Impeach Trump

A majority of House Democrats have killed Texas Representative Al Green’s articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The House voted 344–79 to table Green’s resolution on Tuesday, just hours after he introduced it. 

Green filed the articles on the  grounds of “abuse of presidential powers by disregarding the separation of powers—devolving American democracy into authoritarianism by unconstitutionally usurping Congress’s power to declare war.”

“President Trump’s unilateral, unprovoked use of force without congressional authorization or notice constitutes an abuse of power when there was no imminent threat to the United States, which facilitates the devolution of American democracy into authoritarianism,” he wrote. “I did not come to Congress to be a bystander while a president abuses power and devolves American democracy into authoritarianism with himself as an authoritarian president. President Trump’s unauthorized bombing of Iran constitutes a de facto declaration of war.”

All 79 votes against tabling the resolution came from Democrats. The rest of the party voted with Republicans to kill the legislation.

The vote makes it clear that most Democrats, like Republicans, do not see impeachment as a realistic, successful option. But maybe they shouldn’t—the president himself has already been impeached twice. 

This story has been updated.

Donald Trump struggled Tuesday to answer a simple question about America’s role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization while en route to a summit of the group’s leaders.

The president cast doubt on Article 5 of NATO, which obligates member states to collective defense: An attack on one is an attack on all. But when asked whether he was committed to such a rule, Trump played dumb.

“It depends on your definition, there are numerous definitions of Article 5, you know that right?” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

“But I’m committed to being their friends, you know I’ve become friends with many of those leaders,” Trump continued.

“I’m committed to saving lives. I’m committed to life and safety. And I’m going to give you an exact definition when I get there. I just don’t want to do it on the back of an airplane,” Trump said, according to Politico, leaving it up to interpretation whether he actually knows what Article 5 says, let alone his position on it.

But Trump hasn’t been a very good friend—in fact, his surprise decision to bomb three of Iran’s nuclear facilities inspired some key NATO members to skip Wednesday’s meeting.

NATO members are expected to sign a new agreement Wednesday to raise defense spending from 2 percent of gross domestic product to a target of 5 percent, following Trump’s ceaseless whining that member states are taking advantage of America’s exorbitant defense budget.

On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada had launched a new defense partnership with the European Commission and European Council, limiting its ability to procure weapons and other materials from the United States.

Republican Senator Mike Lee’s proposed mass sell-off of public lands has foundered on the rocks of Senate procedure.

As a budget reconciliation bill, the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill can pass with a simple majority, rather than the 60-vote hurdle needed to overcome a filibuster. However, it is subject to certain constraints: Under what is known as the “Byrd rule,” provisions that are unrelated to the budget get the chopping block.

Accordingly, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has in recent days been stripping certain extraneous provisions from the plan.

Among the dirt washed away in this so-called “Byrd bath” was a provision authored by Lee that would have put for sale up to 3.3 million acres of public land in 11 Western states, including Lee’s state of Utah. The plan received criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and from hunters, fishers, and conservation groups concerned that it would impact treasured natural sites in the American West.

While Lee claimed the land could be used to address the need for affordable housing, critical observers saw the proposal as merely an effort to pay for tax breaks under Trump. And, under the plan, there would have been “no significant guardrails to prevent valued public lands from being sold for trophy homes, pricey vacation spots, exclusive golf communities, or other developments,” according to the Center for American Progress.

Lee, for his part, has vowed to return with a diluted version of the proposal, writing on X, “Yes, the Byrd Rule limits what can go in the reconciliation bill, but I’m doing everything I can to support President Trump and move this forward. Stay tuned. We’re just getting started.”

Yet another Democrat is calling for Trump’s impeachment after he dropped multiple bombs on Iranian nuclear sites without congressional approval.

On Tuesday, Texas Democrat Al Green filed articles of impeachment against President Trump on the grounds of “abuse of presidential powers by disregarding the separation of powers—devolving American democracy into authoritarianism by unconstitutionally usurping Congress’s power to declare war.”

“President Trump’s unilateral, unprovoked use of force without congressional authorization or notice constitutes an abuse of power when there was no imminent threat to the United States, which facilitates the devolution of American democracy into authoritarianism,” Green continued. “I did not come to Congress to be a bystander while a president abuses power and devolves American democracy into authoritarianism with himself as an authoritarian president. President Trump’s unauthorized bombing of Iran constitutes a de facto declaration of war.”

Green joined Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in calling for Trump’s impeachment.

“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers. He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,” AOC wrote Saturday on X. “It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”

These calls, along with the bipartisan War Powers Resolution introduced by Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie, are certainly much stronger messages than what Democratic leadership has been putting out, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries admitting Monday that he hadn’t even looked at Massie and Khanna’s resolution.

But the calls will likely amount to nothing, as impeachment is incredibly unlikely to be approved by the House (Trump has been impeached twice already). It also raises questions about the politics of who is allowed to circumvent congressional approval to drop bombs on another country. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden each dropped thousands of bombs on various nations without receiving congressional approval, but they didn’t receive any calls for their impeachment.

Representative Robert Garcia was elected Tuesday to become the Democrats’ newest ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, potentially marking a changing tide in the Democratic Party. 

Forty-seven-year-old Garcia, who is only on his second term in Congress, defeated Representative Stephen Lynch, one of the most senior Democrats on the committee, in a 150–63 secret-ballot vote. 

Lynch, 70, had previously served as the ranking member when former Representative Gerry Connolly took a leave of absence in April. Connolly’s passing last month allowed Republicans in Congress to pass Donald Trump’s gargantuan spending bill, undermining a Democratic agenda and summoning broad scrutiny on the liberal party’s efficacy and reluctance to elevate younger voices. Notably Connolly, whose condition was publicly known, was chosen over the much younger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

Earlier this year, the Trump administration targeted Garcia for his opposition to the Department of Government Efficiency’s corporate-style takeover of the federal government. 

“What the American public wants is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for democracy,” Garcia said in February. Shortly afterward, he received a letter from Washington’s district attorney as if he’d made a threat on Elon Musk’s life. 

But Garcia doubled down on his comments, undeterred. “It’s important for folks to be able to know that Democrats need to be in a fight. This is a fight that we’re in for our very democracy. And the fact that the Trump DOJ now wants to silence members of Congress, because we’re actually willing to take on Elon Musk is quite dangerous,” he said at the time.

Garcia represents a broad coalition: He was formally endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and backed by members of the Progressive and Equality Caucuses. He also enjoyed support from the 43-member delegation from California, the largest in the Democratic Party. 

Progressive and moderate Democrats alike have already begun celebrating Garcia’s new gig.  

California Representative Judy Chu told NBC News that Garcia had “shown steady and strong leadership that brings people together.” 

“He has a young, fresh energy that I think the Oversight Committee needs,” she added.

Florida Representative Maxwell Frost congratulated Garcia on his new position. “He’s a tough progressive with a strong work ethic. As a corrupt admin breaks laws & enriches themselves while people suffer, he will lead the fight to hold them accountable & show the nation,” Frost wrote in a post on X. 

Representative Jared Moskowitz, notably not a progressive, wrote on X that Garcia was “the right person for the right moment.”

Even House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said she’d supported the staunch progressive. “Well I’m a Californian.… I’m partial to mayors,” she told reporters Tuesday, referring to Garcia’s tenure as the mayor of Long Beach.