House lawmaker scuttles plan to force Trump impeachment vote

Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., issued a statement Wednesday evening saying he would not go ahead with his plan to force a vote on the seven articles of impeachment he introduced just over two weeks ago against President Donald Trump. Thanedar claimed Trump committed additional impeachable offenses since the filing, so he said he instead planned to add to the articles and rally support from his fellow lawmakers.

Is that the real reason? Several media outlets reported in recent days that House Democrats were privately furious at Thanedar over his plan to force the vote. They reportedly saw it as political theater doomed to fail in the GOP-led House and believed it would only serve to distract the public from Democrats’ agenda. Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Robin L. Kelly, D-Ill., Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., and Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., originally co-sponsored the bill with Thanedar but ultimately withdrew their support.

What crimes did Thanedar allege? The articles accused Trump of various instances of obstructing justice and abusing his executive power. Among other things, the articles point to Trump’s mass deportations and his failure to return deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States despite a Supreme Court order. The measure also accuses Trump of dismantling agencies and freezing federal funds without permission from Congress. The president abused trade powers and triggered international aggression through damaging tariffs, while also quashing the free speech rights of journalists and his critics, the resolution added.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s previous report on the impeachment articles.