The House could consider an article of impeachment targeting President Donald Trump this week, accusing the president of abusing his executive power after the killings of U.S. citizens at the hands of federal immigration officers earlier this year.
Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas on Monday introduced a privileged resolution accusing Trump of high crimes and misdemeanors, using a procedural tool forcing House GOP leaders to schedule a vote on the article of impeachment within two legislative days. It’s not yet clear when that vote could be scheduled, and GOP leaders could seek to table the motion or refer it to a committee of jurisdiction, essentially killing the motion without a formal vote.
“The President is reducing American democracy to an authoritarian regime,” Green said in a floor speech on Monday. “President Trump, using the powers of his high office, individually and in coordination with officers in his administration, has transformed ICE and CBP into dangerous, unaccountable paramilitary police forces that operate without oversight and pose a direct threat to the constitutional order of the United States and the people of the United States. By such abuses of power, President Trump is brazenly and wantonly devolving the United States democratic republic into an authoritarian regime.”
Green listed four crimes he believes Trump is guilty of after activating Border Patrol agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during Operation Metro Surge, a mission designed to apprehend undocumented immigrants and deport them.
The Texas Democrat accused Trump of enabling ICE and Border Patrol to carry out “unjustified killings”; allowing agents to “operate with anonymity,” referring to face masks worn by officers; undermining the First Amendment and free speech; and skirting judicial oversight.
Green specifically cited the deaths of four U.S. citizens who were killed by immigration officers during that operation, including Alex Pretti and Renee Good, who were killed in separate instances in Minneapolis after altercations with officers.
Those killings prompted an outcry from congressional Democrats, who accused the Trump administration of weaponizing immigration officers with little oversight. That pushback led to a 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security earlier this year, the longest shutdown of a single government agency in U.S. history.
Congress ultimately came to an agreement to reopen DHS without providing funding to ICE or Border Patrol. Republicans later passed a separate package funding those two agencies without any Democratic support.
Trump was impeached twice during his first term, both times being acquitted by the Senate. He is the only president to be impeached twice.
Green has introduced articles of impeachment against Trump at least three other times since he was reelected, but all have failed. Democrats have been hesitant to back those efforts while in the minority, noting the attempts are mostly futile while Republicans control Congress.
However, Democratic leaders have not ruled out reviving impeachment proceedings if they win the House majority in November. Green lost his primary election earlier this summer, meaning he will not be in Congress next year.
Should Democrats take control of the House next year, party leaders have indicated they would focus much of their influence on investigating what they believe to be abuses of power by the Trump administration.
“We haven’t ruled anything in and we haven’t ruled anything out in terms of impeachment,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week.” “We’ve got to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the Constitution, and then let the chips fall where they may, in the best interests of the American people.”
Trump has continuously warned his supporters that he would be impeached if Democrats take control of Congress, using that as a repeated message while on the campaign trail.
“They’re going to impeach me. They have no idea why,” Trump said at a rally alongside Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., last month.