Should President Donald Trump Be Impeached? (H. Res. 621)

What is H. Res. 621?

(Updated October 22, 2021)

This resolution would impeach President Donald Trump for “high crimes and misdemeanors”, including: obstruction of justice; violating the foreign and domestic emoluments clauses of the Constitution; abuse of power by undermining the independence of the judiciary; and undermining freedom of the press.

If the House were to pass this impeachment resolution with a simple majority vote, the next step in the impeachment process would be a trial before the Senate which would require a two-thirds vote to convict and remove President Trump from office.

Argument in favor

President Trump has used his office to enrich himself through his foreign & domestic conflicts of interests, obstructed justice, undermined the freedom of the press, and weakened the independence of the judiciary. He should be impeached and removed from office.

Argument opposed

There isn’t a sufficient basis to justify impeaching the president based on our current knowledge. Trying to impeach President Trump would be a waste of time and political energy, even if it were to succeed in the House it’d go nowhere in the Senate barring a major development.

Impact

The House of Representatives; potentially the Senate; and President Donald Trump.

Cost of H. Res. 621

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced this resolution to impeach President Donald Trump:

“The time has come to make clear to the American people and to this President that his train of injuries to our Constitution must be brought to an end through impeachment. I believe there is evidence that he attempted to obstruct an investigation into Russia’s interference with the U.S. presidential election and links between Russia and the Trump campaign, most notably the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The president’s blatant refusal to separate himself from his businesses has led to clear instances of conflict of interest that appear to violate both the domestic and foreign emoluments clauses. And his attacks on ‘so-called’ judges and ‘fake news’ have undermined public confidence in the judiciary and the press. It’s time for Congress to take action to stop this reckless and harmful behavior by removing Mr. Trump from office and to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States.”

After Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations involving the president, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that impeachment wouldn’t be a priority if she were to retake the speaker’s gavel:

“Impeachment has to spring from something else. If and when the information emerges about that, we’ll see. It’s not a priority on the agenda going forward unless somethng else comes forward.”

Responding to calls for his impeachment from Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), President Trump said at a rally in Michigan:

“We have to keep the House because if we listen to Maxine Waters, she’s going around saying ‘We will impeach him.’”

This resolution has the support of 17 Democratic cosponsors.

Of Note: Rep. Al Green (D-TX) has forced the House to vote on two impeachment resolutions he’s filed so far in the 115th Congress. In December 2017 the first was supported by 58 Democrats (another 4 voted present) and opposed by 126 who joined all Republicans in tabling the resolution. His January 2018 effort was backed by 66 Democrats (another 3 voted present) while 121 Democrats opposed it along with all Republicans.

A September 2018 Quinnipiac University poll found that voters by a 56 - 36 percent margin oppose Congress beginning impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) Press Release
  
• CNN
  
• Tennesseean