US House vote to impeach Trump fails
The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to reject a motion to impeach President Donald Trump, filed by Democratic Representative Al Green, alleging abuse of power following Trump’s military strikes against Iran without prior congressional approval.
The vote was swift and limited in debate, ending with a 344-79 vote, with a majority of Democrats, along with Republicans, voting to postpone consideration of the impeachment resolution.
A small number of Democrats supported the initiative proposed by Green, a representative from Texas.
“I’m not doing this for personal gain or pleasure, but out of constitutional responsibility,” Green said before the vote.
“No president, no matter who, has the right to plunge more than 300 million citizens into war without consulting the people’s representatives in Congress… Either the Constitution has meaning, or it has no meaning at all”.
This move is one of several previous attempts to impeach Trump during his term, but it reflects the escalating political tensions within Congress, particularly in the wake of the surprise attack Trump ordered against Iranian targets, which his critics described as a reckless move that further escalated the situation in the Middle East.
In a related development, Trump earlier that day launched a sharp verbal attack on Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after her statements describing the military strike against Iran as an “impeachable offense,” sparking a new wave of political and media controversy in Washington.
