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By Martha McHardy
US News Reporter
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Democratic Texas Representative Al Green has hit back at Donald Trump after he was kicked out of the president's joint address to Congress on Tuesday, saying that he is "working on" Articles of Impeachment against the president.
Why It Matters
A new impeachment effort against Trump underscores the deep political divisions that remain between the two parties in Washington. Those divides were on full display during Trump's joint address Tuesday night as Republicans issued rousing ovations throughout while Democrats jeered and protested a number of comments.
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What To Know
"I'm working on my articles of impeachment," Green said to reporters on Tuesday after he was removed by the House sergeant-at-arms following multiple interruptions of Trump's address.
"This president is unfit. He should not hold the office—34 felony convictions, two times impeached," Green added.
Green was removed after protesting Trump's remarks over obtaining a mandate in the election, shouting, "He has no mandate" while pointing toward the president and refusing to take his seat.
The president opened his speech by highlighting his electoral victory as Democrats jeered and booed in response. When Green refused to take his seat, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson ordered him to be removed as Republican lawmakers taunted him with chants of "Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye."
The removal of an elected official by the sergeant-at-arms during a joint address or State of the Union is virtually unprecedented in modern congressional history.
Green told reporters that he had interrupted Trump's joint address to protest against a "desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security."
This week, the Republican-controlled House approved a budget framework that could target Medicaid and other programs to fund a $4.5 trillion tax cut. The bill also provides funding for Trump's plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
"I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid," Green said.
Critic Who Is Big on Impeaching
Green has long been a critic of Trump, pushing for his impeachment multiple times. Trump was impeached twice during his first term by the Democratic-controlled House: First in 2019 over his alleged attempt to pressure Ukraine to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden and again in January 2021 over his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was acquitted by the GOP-controlled Senate in both cases.
Green indicated last month on the House floor that "the movement to impeach the president has begun."
His announcement followed Trump's suggestion that the United States should take control of the Gaza Strip during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Green soon formally declared his impeachment plans on the House floor, stating, "Ethnic cleansing in Gaza is not a joke, especially when it emanates from the president of the United States."
He added, "I rise to announce that I will bring articles of impeachment against the president for dastardly deeds proposed and dastardly deeds done."
The Chances of Impeachment
Despite the dramatic announcement, Green's effort lacks support from Democratic leadership. A senior House Democrat told Axios that Green's impeachment articles would go nowhere.
Democratic Representative Pete Aguilar echoed this sentiment, saying, "This isn't a focus of the Democratic Caucus."
Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee, which typically reviews impeachment resolutions, has not signaled any intention to take up Green's effort.
Nonetheless, Green's remarks on Tuesday signal that he will proceed with his plans. While unprecedented, a third impeachment is constitutionally permissible, as there is no limit to how many times a president can be impeached.
Only three U.S. presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Trump. All were acquitted in the Senate and were not removed from office. Former President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 before he could face impeachment over the Watergate scandal.
What People Are Saying
Green said: "The president said he had a mandate, and I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid. I have people who are very fearful. These are poor people, and they have only Medicaid in their lives when it comes to their health care. I want to know that his budget calls for deep cuts in Medicaid. He needs to save Medicaid, protect it. We need to raise the cap on Social Security…and we've got to protect Medicare. These are the safety net programs that people in my congressional district depend on." He added: "This is the richest country in the world, and we have people who don't have good health care. We've got to do better. Health care has become wealth care."
Costas Panagopoulos, political science professor at Northeastern University, previously told Newsweek: "Right now, it's unlikely Trump would be impeached in the House and even less likely he'd be convicted by the Senate. Impeachment attempts could backfire on Democrats if they're advanced for less serious transgressions, but we cannot rule out the possibility of more flagrant incidents that qualify as high crimes or misdemeanors that would justify impeachment.
"In such cases, voters may not hold it against Democrats for holding Trump's feet to the fire. So, Democrats need to be cautious and strategic in pursuing impeachment against Trump. If they do this too often, its effectiveness may wear off and shoot the party in the foot when there might really be an egregious violation that warrants impeachment."
What Happens Next
Impeaching and removing a president from office has never been accomplished and remains unlikely unless one party controls both chambers of Congress by wide margins.
Currently, the Republicans control both the House and the Senate, making a third impeachment very unlikely.
However, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon warned in November during an episode of his War Room podcast that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, would lead the charge to another Trump impeachment if House control flips during the midterms in 2026.
"Hakeem Jeffries could be, will be, the speaker of the House in two years," Bannon said. "And the first thing he will do in the early days of 2027 is move to impeach Donald Trump. Trust me. They're gonna put $10 billion in back of him. They have nobody else."
He continued: "…Hakeem Jeffries is just sitting there, right? He's ready to go. The [billionaire Democratic donor] Reid Hoffmans of the world are gonna put $10 billion in back of him to win a couple of seats, a handful of seats, in places that are kind of Democratic anyway."
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