House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., on Tuesday shot down efforts by some of his party's lawmakers to impeach President Donald Trump, calling the move impractical.
"Impeachment is, at times, a tool that can be used," the Aguilar told reporters at the Capitol, reported The Hill. "This president is no stranger to that; he's been impeached twice. But we don't have any confidence that House and Senate Republicans would do their jobs. And so, this is not an exercise that we're willing to undertake."
Aguilar did not say whether he thinks Trump has committed offenses that merit a push for impeachment during his first 100 days in office.
However, he said that Democrats plan to focus on pushing back against Trump's policy agenda, including tax cuts and slashes to spending on other government programs.
"Right now, we will deal with the tools in front of us," he said. "The policies that [Trump] and House Republicans have placed forward — which are reckless cuts to the healthcare system, to our supplemental nutrition that is relied on by women and children and families across this country — those are the policies that we're going to push back against, and those are the items that the American public is paying attention to."
Aguilar's comments come after Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., filed seven articles of impeachment against the president on Monday, citing "a sweeping abuse of power, flagrant violations of the Constitution, and acts of tyranny that undermine American democracy and threaten the rule of law."
"Donald Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he is unfit to serve as president and represents a clear and present danger to our nation's constitution and our democracy," Thanedar said.
The proposed articles he introduced accuse Trump of defying court orders, including one to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from his deportation to El Salvador; attempting to dismantle the Education Department and other agencies established by congress; seeking to dismantle congressionally established agencies including the Education Department; unilaterally instituting tariffs; and "establish himself as tyrant, dictator and autocrat over the people of the United States."
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, has also said he plans to seek articles of impeachment against Trump at some point.
Democrats on Capitol Hill have been criticized by members of their party who accuse them of not aggressively challenging Trump.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and other Democrat leaders deny that, saying that field hearings, town halls and other actions have been taken to spread their message against the president.
"We're going to continue to show up, stand up and speak up in a variety of ways inside the Capitol, outside the Capitol, on the Capitol steps, in Democratic districts and Republican districts, and throughout America," he said Monday.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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