Al Green Met a Ballot He Couldn't Beat, So He's Back to Impeachment

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) has found one more election he can influence before voters send him home.

It just won't be his own.

Green announced Monday that he intends to force the House to act this week on his latest articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The timing could hardly be more inconvenient for Democrats.

This is the House's final scheduled week in Washington before the midterm elections, and vulnerable members would much rather talk about prices, healthcare, or almost anything besides impeaching Trump again.

Green filed H. Res. 1486 on Aug. 24. The resolution accuses Trump of turning ICE and Customs and Border Protection into what Green calls "unacceptable paramilitary police forces." It centers on four deaths involving federal immigration officers and accuses Trump of allowing the agencies to operate without proper accountability.

Green isn't interested in waiting for committee hearings or a future Democratic majority. He says he'll exercise his House privilege and force action during the legislative business running from Sept. 14 through Sept. 17.

His fellow Democrats sound thrilled.

One senior House Democrat called the move profane enough that I'll spare you the word. Another observed, "There's a reason why Al Green isn't coming back."

Members complained that the party should be discussing affordability and AI instead of another impeachment fight.

From Axios:

Between the lines: Green, who lost his primary to fellow Rep. Christian Menefee (D-Texas) in May, has positioned himself as one of the president's most obdurate critics in Congress.
He was escorted out of Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress last year and his State of the Union this year, both times for heckling.
He mounted rogue efforts to impeach Trump in 2017, 2018, and twice last year, but all of his attempts were quashed in bipartisan procedural votes.
What we're hearing: A third House Democrat vented that "Rep. Green appears to only be thinking about himself. Not about strategy. Not about building a coalition."
"We need serious people in our caucus focused on the mission: flipping the House to end this national nightmare," the lawmaker said.
A fourth House Democrat told Axios: "Sure, he will excite the non-strategic activist crowd. But why is he empowering Trump?"
"Every time you swing and miss at the guy, his approval rating goes up. Look for other ways to get attention," they added.
Between the lines: Others, including party leadership, are brushing the vote off as a distraction.
"Another day, another Al Green moment," a Democratic leadership source said.
A fifth House Democrat told Axios: "Obviously, he is looking to keep his profile up. Don't think this fundamentally changes anything."

There's a reason Green isn't coming back, all right.

On May 26, Democratic voters in Texas' 18th Congressional District chose Rep. Christian Menefee over Green by more than 2 to 1. Menefee received 33,957 votes to Green's 15,001.

Green doesn't have to worry about persuading those voters anymore. Some of his Democratic colleagues still have votes of their own to face in November.

Now he gets to hand them a choice.

Vote against Green's impeachment push and risk infuriating the Democratic voters who have spent years being told Trump presents an existential threat to democracy.

Vote for it and give Republicans an easy campaign ad reminding swing voters that Democrats are still reaching for impeachment while asking for control of Congress.

One Democrat privately admitted the trap. If Green forces the vote, the lawmaker said, "I have no choice but to vote for it" because of the reaction from the party's base.

From Axios:

The other side: "Where is the fight in the Democrats that are speaking anonymously? ... They don't have the courage to stand up and face me," Green told Axios.
"I would challenge any one of them or all of them to debate me." he added.
Green also pushed back on the argument that his impeachment vote is pointless: "Rosa Parks didn't know she was going to win. In fact, Rosa Parks knew she wouldn't win the night she took a seat on that bus."
"Not one of them indicated that the president's actions are not impeachable, yet these Democrats are going to vote to stall and/or prevent the president from being impeached," the Texas Democrat said.
The intrigue: Some Democrats who privately dislike Green's impeachment push likely will vote for it anyway for fear of backlash from the party base.
"If he forces it, I have no choice but to vote for it," acknowledged the third House Democrat.
There are also some true believers like Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), who is also leaving Congress next year after losing his primary and told Axios: "Obviously I will be voting for [it]."
What to watch: While Democrats can easily shrug off this vote as a farce, they will face a very real dilemma next year if they retake control of one or both chambers of Congress, as Axios previously reported.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is toeing a careful line on the issue, saying in a CNN interview last month, "We haven't ruled anything in, and we haven't ruled anything out."
His public ambivalence reflects genuine divisions among House Democrats as to whether it is worth trying to impeach Trump a third time.

Green has been here before. He pushed impeachment efforts during Trump's first term and tried again after Trump's return to office. Last year, he was escorted from Trump's address to Congress after repeatedly interrupting the president. The House later censured him.

In May, I wrote that Green had finally met a ballot he couldn't impeach.

Apparently, I spoke too soon.

The voters may have ended Green's congressional career, but they couldn't stop him from leaving his colleagues one final gift.

For Democrats fighting to win the House in November, it's shaped exactly like an impeachment vote.

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