Well, that didn’t take long. As many politicos predicted, the House on Wednesday rebuffed an effort put forth by Texas Democrat Al Green to impeach Donald Trump.
As NBC News reports, the Democrat-controlled House voted 332-95 to table Green’s resolution. In bringing it to the House floor Tuesday night, Green had cited Trump’s recent “go back” attack on the four freshman Democratic congresswomen informally known as “the Squad” as one of Trump’s “high misdemeanors” while in office.
But a majority of Green’s Democratic colleagues, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with all the Republicans, voted to table the resolution.
Pelosi, at a news conference later Wednesday, said, according to NBC:
“We have six committees working on following the facts in terms of any abuse of power, obstruction of justice and the rest that the president may have engaged in. That is the serious path we’re on—not that Mr. Green is not serious, but we’ll deal with that on the floor.”
However, as the Washington Post noted, 95 Democrats, including “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and leaders of the House’s black, Latino and progressive caucuses, all voted in favor of the resolution. Thus, there is still a clear divide among the Democrats when it comes to its moderate and progressive wings.
And the outcome had Trump crowing as he arrived in North Carolina for a rally.
“You see the overwhelming vote against impeachment and that’s the end of it,” Trump said, the Post reports, writing that Trump called Green’s effort the “most ridiculous project I’ve ever been involved in.”
Green, who had tried two times prior to Tuesday’s resolution to have Trump impeached, expressed disappointment Wednesday in the House vote.
Asked whether perhaps he should have waited to put forth an impeachment resolution until after the scheduled testimony next week of former special counsel Robert Mueller, Green said no, telling reporters, per NBC:
“The Mueller testimony has nothing to do with his bigotry. Nothing. Zero. Nada,” Green said. “We cannot wait. As we wait, we risk having the blood of somebody on our hands — and it could be a member of Congress.”