‘High Crime’ Impeachment of Trump Doomed to Fail

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, filed a formal motion to impeach President Donald Trump ahead of a possible Democratic Party victory in the November midterm election. The Democrat congressman claims the president has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” through the administration’s immigration enforcement.

“This is not about Democrats versus Republicans, conservatives versus liberals, or the Left versus the Right,” Green wrote in a letter to Trump sent on Monday.

“These articles of impeachment are about the Constitution and how you are reducing it to mere words on paper. It’s about how you attempt to bully judges and disrespect the separation of powers. It’s about how you condone violations of free speech and flout constitutionally mandated due process,” he continued, addressing the president.

Green cites Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution, the presidential oath of office, saying Trump has failed to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” by implementing his deportation agenda using the Department of Homeland Security.

While it is likely that every House Democrat would vote to impeach Trump, they would need at least seven Republicans to vote with them to advance the motion to the Senate. If they managed to do so, the Senate would hold a trial and need a two-thirds majority vote, meaning Democrats would need 22 Republican senators to vote to convict Trump.

The House has successfully impeached three U.S. presidents: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021. However, none was convicted by the Senate.

Green acknowledges that he is not looking for a successful impeachment but rather wants to create a trial for the public to have discourse and to give members of Congress the opportunity to go on the record against Trump.

“Mr. President, I am well aware of the fact that you will be defended by persons who will say, ‘The House won’t impeach, and if it did, the Senate won’t convict.’ Sir, my response is that articles of impeachment that are not approved by Congress can express on-the-record disapproval of presidential actions and demonstrate that there are some of us watching and willing to act,” Green continues in the letter.

However, in January, the House and Senate could look different, depending on the results of the November elections. Democrats have already vowed to continue working on impeaching the president.