A House Democrat went rogue from his party in a bid to impeach President Trump, but relented after widespread resistance from his colleagues and House Democratic leadership.
Rep. Shri Thanedar, Michigan Democrat, was the first to officially file articles of impeachment against the president, but House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, made clear earlier this month his unhappiness.
Still, Mr. Thanedar moved to force a vote on his resolution, which carried various articles of impeachment for official acts so far during Mr. Trump’s second term.
But in a last-minute change of heart Wednesday, the lawmaker opted not to follow through.
“After talking with many colleagues, I have decided not to force a vote on impeachment today,” he said on X. “Instead, I will add to my articles of impeachment and continue to rally the support of both Democrats and Republicans to defend the Constitution with me.”
His articles of impeachment accuse Mr. Trump of obstruction of justice and abuse of executive power, usurping Congress’ appropriations powers, abusing trade powers with tariffs, and both violating the First Amendment and creating an unlawful office by establishing the Department of Government Efficiency.
The articles also claim the president engaged in bribery, corruption and tyrannical overreach.
His decision was likely informed by heavy pressure from Democratic leadership and other House Democrats to drop his crusade.
When asked whether he directly asked Mr. Thanedar to pull his resolution, Mr. Jeffries told reporters, “it speaks for itself.”
Democratic leadership instead wants caucus members to continue sharpening their attacks against Republican plans to cut Medicaid in the budget reconciliation process after months of searching for an attack angle against the GOP.
“We shouldn’t be talking about this proposal that is not right and not timely,” said House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, California Democrat. “Impeachment is a tool, like I said before. This president is no stranger to impeachments, he’s been impeached twice. Impeachment is a tool that can be used, but it takes weeks and months to do.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler was one of four original co-sponsors who signed on in support of Mr. Thanedar’s resolution who then quickly removed their names after it became clear party leadership opposed the move.
Mr. Nadler, a New York Democrat who led the first two impeachment efforts against Mr. Trump in 2019 and 2021, said he thinks that the current makeup of Congress makes the president unimpeachable.
“I led two impeachments,” Mr. Nadler said. “You couldn’t get Republican senators or enough Republicans to vote for impeachment, and they fled to their lives. It’s not going to happen now. So I think it’s ill-motivated and it’s just a distraction for what we ought to be dealing with.”
But earlier Wednesday, Mr. Thanedar was all-in on his impeachment push.
Facing scrutiny from his own party over impeachment, and questions of whether his resolution would be successful, Mr. Thanedar equated his push to uncertainty in such h historic civil rights movements as the abolition of slavery and female suffrage.
“So many changes happened because people stood up, because somebody started it, somebody started a movement, somebody had a thought,” he said.
Some members believed that Mr. Thanedar’s impeachment zeal was politically motivated. He faces two primary challengers in his district, one of whom was endorsed by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a fellow Michigan Democrat.
“I think everyone knows that the guy is acting out of self-interest,” said Rep. Jared Golden, Maine Democrat.
