A push to impeach President Donald Trump over his recent military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites was swiftly tabled Tuesday afternoon, as nearly 130 House Democrats joined Republicans to block the effort.
The impeachment articles, introduced by Democratic Representative Al Green of Texas, accused the president of launching an “illegal and unconstitutional” bombing campaign without congressional approval.
Over the weekend, U.S. warplanes targeted three sites in Iran: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, as Tehran’s war with Israel escalated. American officials have long warned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, though Iranian leaders insist their program is focused solely on energy.
The strikes immediately raised legal and constitutional questions. With Congress left out of the decision, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began circulating a War Powers Resolution aimed at restricting the administration from taking further military action without explicit authorization.
But, when it came to Green’s impeachment articles, the House wasn’t interested. Lawmakers voted 344 to 79 to shelve the resolution, with 128 Democrats voting to table it. Only 79 members backed the move to proceed.
Green introduced the articles Tuesday morning, posting them online with a familiar argument about executive overreach.
“In starting his illegal and unconstitutional war with Iran without the constitutionally mandated consent of Congress or appropriate notice to Congress, President Trump acted in direct violation of the War Powers Clause of the Constitution,” the resolution reads.
“President Trump has devolved and continues to devolve American democracy into authoritarianism by disregarding the separation of powers and now usurping congressional war powers,” it continued.
Green, a longtime civil rights attorney and former president of the Houston NAACP, has served in the House since 2005. He was also one of the first lawmakers to introduce articles of impeachment during Trump’s first term, citing obstruction of justice following the firing of former FBI Director James Comey. He’s made several impeachment attempts over the years, most recently earlier this year.
This time, he had vocal support from progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who posted a blistering statement on X after the bombing.
“The President's disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers,” she wrote. “He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations. It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”
But not everyone saw it that way.
“This is absurd on its face,” Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York responded on X. “The United States has not declared war since 1942 and has conducted over 125 different military actions since that time, including in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Presidents of both parties have relied on Article II authority, as well as AUMFs, to conduct targeted strikes and have not been subject to impeachment. In 2011, Barack Obama conducted an 8-month campaign in Libya to topple Gaddafi.”
As for what happens next, impeachment appears unlikely to gain traction. Republicans still hold a slim majority in the House, meaning any renewed efforts would almost certainly stall unless political winds shift after the midterm elections.
Here is the full list of the 128 House Democrats who voted to table the impeachment articles:
Pete Aguilar (California)
Gabe Amo (Rhode Island)
Jake Auchincloss (Massachusetts)
Wesley Bell (Missouri)
Ami Bera (California)
Don Beyer (Virginia)
Sanford Bishop (Georgia)
Julia Brownley (California)
Nikki Budzinski (Illinois)
Janelle Bynum (Oregon)
Salud Carbajal (California)
Andre Carson (Indiana)
Ed Case (Hawaii)
Sean Casten (Illinois)
Kathy Castor (Florida)
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (Florida)
Katherine Clark (Massachusetts)
Emanuel Cleaver (Missouri)
Jim Clyburn (South Carolina)
Herb Conaway (New Jersey)
Lou Correa (California)
Jim Costa (California)
Joe Courtney (Connecticut)
Angie Craig (Minnesota)
Jason Crow (Colorado)
Henry Cuellar (Texas)
Sharice Davids (Kansas)
Don Davis (North Carolina)
Madeleine Dean (Pennsylvania)
Rosa DeLauro (Connecticut)
Suzan DelBene (Washington)
Chris Deluzio (Pennsylvania)
Debbie Dingell (Michigan)
Sarah Elfreth (Maryland)
Cleo Fields (Louisiana)
Shomari Figures (Alabama)
Lizzie Fletcher (Texas)
Bill Foster (Illinois)
Lois Frankel (Florida)
Laura Gillen (New York)
Jared Golden (Maine)
Dan Goldman (New York)
Vicente Gonzalez (Texas)
Maggie Goodlander (New Hampshire)
Josh Gottheimer (New Jersey)
Adam Gray (California)
Josh Harder (California)
Jim Himes (Connecticut)
Steven Horsford (Nevada)
Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania)
Steny Hoyer (Maryland)
Val Hoyle (Oregon)
Hakeem Jeffries (New York)
Julie Johnson (Texas)
Marcy Kaptur (Ohio)
Bill Keating (Massachusetts)
Timothy Kennedy (New York)
Ro Khanna (California)
Greg Landsman (Ohio)
Rick Larsen (Washington)
John Larson (Connecticut)
George Latimer (New York)
Susie Lee (Nevada)
Mike Levin (California)
Sam Liccardo (California)
Ted Lieu (California)
Zoe Lofgren (California)
Stephen Lynch (Massachusetts)
Seth Magaziner (Rhode Island)
John Mannion (New York)
Lucy McBath (Georgia)
Sarah McBride (Delaware)
April McClain Delaney (Maryland)
Jennifer McClellan (Virginia)
Betty McCollum (Minnesota)
Kristen McDonald Rivet (Michigan)
Morgan McGarvey (Kentucky)
Gregory Meeks (New York)
Grace Meng (New York)
Kweisi Mfume (Maryland)
Joe Morelle (New York)
Kelly Morrison (Minnesota)
Jared Moskowitz (Florida)
Seth Moulton (Massachusetts)
Frank Mrvan (Indiana)
Richard Neal (Massachusetts)
Joe Neguse (Colorado)
Johnny Olszewski (Maryland)
Frank Pallone (New Jersey)
Jimmy Panetta (California)
Chris Pappas (New Hampshire)
Nancy Pelosi (California)
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington)
Scott Peters (California)
Brittany Pettersen (Colorado)
Nellie Pou (New Jersey)
Mike Quigley (Illinois)
Jamie Raskin (Maryland)
Josh Riley (New York)
Deborah Ross (North Carolina)
Pat Ryan (New York)
Andrea Salinas (Oregon)
Mary Gay Scanlon (Pennsylvania)
Brad Schneider (Illinois)
Hillary Scholten (Michigan)
Kim Schrier (Washington)
Bobby Scott (Virginia)
Terri Sewell (Alabama)
Adam Smith (Washington)
Eric Sorensen (Illinois)
Darren Soto (Florida)
Greg Stanton (Arizona)
Haley Stevens (Michigan)
Marilyn Strickland (Washington)
Suhas Subramanyam (Virginia)
Tom Suozzi (New York)
Emilia Sykes (Ohio)
Paul Tonko (New York)
Ritchie Torres (New York)
Lori Trahan (Massachusetts)
Derek Tran (California)
Lauren Underwood (Illinois)
Juan Vargas (California)
Gabe Vasquez (New Mexico)
Marc Veasey (Texas)
Eugene Vindman (Virginia)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Florida)
George Whitesides (California)
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This is an a abdication of their duty to the American people
Have the Democrats decided that standing up for principles is important only when they hold the majority in the House and Senate?
They should be taking a long look at the Republicans. Even when they were outnumbered, they never backed down no matter what.
This will prove most costly for the Democratic Party now and in the future. Democratic voters want their leaders to fight for them, no matter what the odds. Republican leaders and their voters have figured this out long ago, that even when vastly outnumbered, they will never surrender the fight, and they get back up regardless of the battered position they may find themselves in.
Every Democratic voter is asking himself/herself this base question: 'If the Democrats will not fight for me, why should I vote for them?'