JUST IN: Democrat’s Impeachment Bid Crashes And Burns In The House

The latest Democrat-backed Trump impeachment effort was over before it ever got off the ground, when the House voted to table the motion by an overwhelming majority on Tuesday.

In what has become somewhat of a tradition for U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-TX), the back bench Democrat launched his sixth effort to impeach President Trump. Green unsuccessfully brought impeachment articles to the floor on three occasions during the president first term, two of which made vague accusations of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” while a third resolution was introduced after a mean tweet.

Just under six months into Trump’s second term, Green has already launched three impeachment efforts. The first came back in February, when Green introduced an impeachment motion over the president’s comments on the Gaza Strip. The second, which followed the similarly failed effort brought forward by Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), accused Trump of “authoritarianism” for enforcing immigration law.

Unsatisfied with the previous five defeats, Green tried once again on Tuesday, this time arguing that President Trump’s strikes on Iranian nuclear sites were illegal, a claim that has been thoroughly debunked by legal analysts and even some elected Democrats.

“In his conduct of the office of President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, abused the powers of the presidency when he disregarded the doctrine of separation of powers by usurping Congress’s power to declare war and ordered the United States military to bomb another country without the constitutionally mandated congressional authorization or notice to Congress — cognizant of the fact that should another country’s military bomb a facility within the United States of America, it would be a de facto declaration of war against the United States of America,” the latest impeachment resolution reads.

Al Green speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill

The Houston Democrat’s latest effort met the same fate as the others, however, as the House overwhelmingly voted to table the motion by a vote of 344-79.

Senior House Democrats have rebuked impeachment efforts brought forward by some of their obscure colleagues in recent weeks, highlighting the party’s lack of appetite for impeachment proceedings at this time. “This is such an impactful moment, and our colleagues are locking themselves in a room for 24 hours to protect and defend healthcare. We shouldn’t be talking about this proposal that is not right, not timely,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) told reporters after Rep. Thanedar’s failed impeachment bid last month.

When speaking on the condition of anonymity, a number of House Democrats were less than cordial in sharing their thoughts on the matter.

“This is a self-own that … fundamentally undermines our capacity to continue to have a conversation with people we need to win over,” one anonymous Democrat source told Axios. “Why would we do something that has failed twice as a strategy and yielded no electoral win? The guy got impeached twice, how did it work out for us?” another added.