Resolution to impeach Trump fails
House tables article for now
WASHINGTON — The House killed an attempt Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for statements that the chamber condemned as racist, turning aside an accusation that he had brought “ridicule, disgrace and disrepute” to his office.
The move split Democrats, underscoring the divisions within the party over whether they should use their majority to charge Mr. Trump and try to remove him from office, with 95 signaling their support for at least considering the question further and 137 moving to stop the current effort in its tracks.
The 332- 95 vote to table the impeachment article drafted by Rep. Al Green, D- Texas, constituted the first action by the House since Democrats took control in January on a measure to impeach Mr. Trump, which Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and other party leaders have toiled to avoid.
But it was hardly the last word on the topic from Democrats torn about how to deal with the president, between progressives who want to challenge him more aggressively and moderates desperate to stick to a poll- tested agenda that includes improving health coverage and raising wages for working people.
Ms. Pelosi has been caught in the middle as she tries to maintain some semblance of control over the party’s agenda. Those dynamics have already dominated the House’s business this week as Democrats feuded with the president over his tweets about four Democratic congresswomen of color.
In recent days, thanks to Mr. Trump’s penchant for stirring up the hottest of political controversies and simmering divisions within their own ranks, House Democrats have not seemed to be able to get out of their own way. This week has been a case in point.
Mr. Trump’s tweets prompted a rush by Democratic leaders to press a resolution condemning him. The vote on the measure took place on Tuesday, and the floor debate devolved into an extraordinarily polarizing spectacle as Republicans and Democrats argued about whether it was appropriate for Ms. Pelosi to have branded the president’s tweets racist.
Then Mr. Green’s decision to force action on his impeachment resolution pushed the narrative into Wednesday, overshadowing key Democratic issues, like a vote to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 and another to repeal a tax on high- cost employer - sponsored health plans.
“It’s time for us to deal with his bigotry,” Mr. Green said Wednesday. “This president has demonstrated that he’s willing to yell ‘ fire’ in a crowded theater, and we have seen what can happen to people when bigotry is allowed to have a free rein. ... We all ought to let the world know where we stand when we have a bigot in the White House.”