Rep. Green files bill to impeach president
WASHINGTON — Houston Democrat Al Green filed an impeachment resolution on the House floor Wednesday, making official his recent calls that Congress take action against President Donald Trump.
Among the grounds for Green’s impeachment bid was Trump’s response to the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., as well as his attacks on NFL players protesting police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. He also accused Trump of “perfidy” in making the unsubstantiated claim that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump, the articles read, “has fueled and is fueling an alt-right hate machine and its worldwide covert sympathizers … causing immediate injury to American society.”
Green’s move is highly unlikely to get legs in the Republican-controlled chamber, where the resolution is expected to be permanently tabled.
Though Green filed his articles as a “privileged” motion, forcing floor action within two legislative days, he was not present when the House’s presiding officer moved to consider the resolution.
In a floor speech, Green acknowledged that his action may have more symbolic than practical significance.
“Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, I believe that the ‘truest measure of a person is not where you stand in times of comfort and convenience,’ when the world is with you, but rather, where do you stand in times of challenge and controversy, when you may stand alone?”