‘Threat to Democracy’: One Democrat Has a New Plan to Impeach Trump

Last week, the Democrats in the House had a minor crisis when Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), a Democratic Congressman from Michigan who had introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump, announced plans to force a vote on the articles. Doing so would have forced Democrats, including those in competitive districts, into a tough vote at an inopportune time, when the party is trying to marshal opposition to the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Numerous Democrats complained to Axios and Politico about Thanedar’s move, which they believed was motivated by his facing a primary challenge in his district.

By the end of the week,  Thanedar had agreed to pull the effort to force a vote, although the impeachment resolution itself has not been pulled.

Now, however, another House Democrat is talking about a similar move.

Green’s New Deal

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) made pushes to impeach Donald Trump during his first term, even before the actual impeachment inquiries began.

He picked up where he had left off early in Trump’s second term, announcing at a rally that he planned to move to impeach Trump over his plan to take over Gaza. Later, the 77-year-old Green interrupted Trump’s March address to Congress, which got him kicked out of the speech and also censured by the House.

After vowing to introduce his impeachment resolution, Green announced he would sign on to Thanedar’s push.

Now, Green has introduced his own impeachment resolution, and is talking about forcing his own vote.

According to Axios, Green has written a letter to his colleagues announcing that intention.

“I pen this communique with a heavy heart, driven by a conscience that will not allow me to ignore my well-founded, strong pre-election condemnation of Donald John Trump as a threat to American democracy that has now become our reality,” Green writes at the beginning of his three-page letter.

He references several actions by Trump, including his threats to impeach federal judges, his deportations without due process, as well as the “potential suspension of the great writ of habeas corpus.”

“Authoritarian President Donald John Trump is the problem. The threat of impeachment can act as  a deterrent. Should that fail, actual impeachment becomes the solution,” Green says in the letter. “Having presented the  articles of impeachment that laid the foundation for President Trump’s prior impeachment, which contributed to his presidential defeat, I am compelled by my moral imperative, driven by my conscience, to act again.”

Green also seems to acknowledge that the planned vote will not result in Trump’s removal.

“It is not unusual for the U.S. House of Representatives to vote multiple times before passing important legislation,” he writes. “Although the first vote is not always the final victorious vote, it can be the foundational vote.”

Green discussed the plan more in an interview this week with Newsweek, when he declared that action must be taken before “tanks are rolling down the street.”

“You don’t wait until tanks are rolling down the streets of American cities,” Green told Newsweek in the interview. “It’s too late then. You don’t wait until you have what everybody will recognize as a constitutional crisis, because that can be the forerunner to tanks moving down the streets of American cities.

Green also told Newsweek that he plans to introduce additional articles of impeachment later on.

Resistance Continues

Democratic leaders in Congress told Axios that Green will likely be pressured, much the way Thanedar was, to back off the push for a vote. Yet while Thanedar had announced that he would push for the vote last week, Green says the timing is “to be determined.”

They are aware both that they lack the votes to impeach or remove Trump, and that doing so would may very well do more harm politically than good.

About the Author:

Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.