Auctoritas

<p>Nearly two dozen House Democrats voted with Republicans on Thursday to block one of their own members from forcing a vote to impeach <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">President Trump</a>.</p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>The vote enraged Democrats, many of whom <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/impeachment-haley-stevens-rfk-democrats-trump" target="_blank">despise the increasingly caustic use of impeachment</a> as a political tool but don't want to be seen as supporting Trump's actions and risk angering the party base.</p><hr /><ul><li>"I hate it," one senior House Democrat told Axios on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive vote.</li><li>"This is not a team effort," another House Democrat told Axios. "It puts us in a difficult position."</li></ul><p><strong>State of play: </strong>The vote was forced by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who said in a House <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzvzksZVp70" target="_blank">floor speech</a> Thursday morning that Trump is "an abuser of presidential power."</p><ul><li>Green pointed to Trump <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/11/20/trump-democrats-sedition-death-penalty" target="_blank">saying last month</a> that a video of House Democrats urging military service members to disobey lawful orders was "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH."</li><li>House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) then introduced a motion to "table," or essentially kill, Green's impeachment motion. </li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers: </strong>The House voted 237 to 140 in favor of Scalise's motion, with 23 Democrats joining 214 Republicans in support of it.</p><ul><li>Another 47 Democrats voted "present" on Scalise's motion, with several switching from "yes" to "present" just before the vote was closed.</li></ul><p><strong>Yes, but: </strong>The vote represents a significant shift from June, when 128 Democrats voted to table <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/24/trump-impeachment-trump-iran-al-green-democrats" target="_blank">another of Green's impeachment motions</a> and just 79 sided with him.</p><ul><li>House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) all shifted from voting to table in June to voting "present" on Thursday.</li><li>So did Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).</li></ul><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>More and more Democrats have turned to impeachment as their preferred tool for going after Trump and his Cabinet officials.</p><ul><li>Just in the last week and a half, Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/03/pete-hegseth-impeachment-democrat-shri-thanedar" target="_blank">Pete Hegseth</a> and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.</li><li>Another Democrat is pushing for the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/kristi-noem-impeachment-democrat-dhs-rfk-trump" target="_blank">Kristi Noem</a>.</li></ul><p><strong>What they're saying: </strong>"I think Trump has committed a number of impeachable offenses, but the impeachment process needs to be preceded by investigation, deliberation, a lot more process," said Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), who voted "present" on the motion.</p><ul><li>Walkinshaw added that Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, "have shown that they're not willing to hold Trump accountable, I don't think they're going to change their perspective."</li><li>"We're going to have to beat him at the ballot box in November 2026," he said.</li></ul><p><em>Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting. </em></p>