Impeaching Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I rise to give notice of my intention to raise a question of the privileges of the House.

The form of the resolution is as follows:

H. Res. 537, impeaching, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

In the House of Representatives, June 24, 2025, Mr. Al Green of Texas submitted the following resolution;

Resolution, impeaching Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Resolved, that Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following Articles of Impeachment be exhibited to the Senate:

Articles of Impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Article I.

Abuse of Presidential Powers by Disregarding the Separation of Powers, Devolving American Democracy into Authoritarianism by Unconstitutionally Usurping Congress' Power to Declare War.

In his conduct of the Office of President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the Office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, abused the powers of the presidency when he disregarded the doctrine of separation of powers by usurping Congress's power to declare war and ordered the United States military to bomb another country without the constitutionally-mandated congressional authorization or notice to Congress--cognizant of the fact that should another country's military bomb a facility within the United States of America, it would be a de facto declaration of war against the United States of America.

On June 12, 2025, the State of Israel initiated attacks on Iran, ostensibly to target sites and individuals of importance to Iran's nuclear program. Iran retaliated, and the conflict has escalated between Israel and Iran, though at no point did Iran pose any imminent threat to the United States.

On June 21, 2025, President Trump announced ``successful'' attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran: Fordow, Natanz, and Estahan via his social media network, Truth Social. President Trump failed to seek prior congressionally-mandated authorization for the use of military force. Congressional leaders were not appropriately briefed or notified of the attack plans despite foreign leaders being given advance notice of the planned U.S. military action.

President Trump's unilateral, unprovoked use of force without congressional authorization or notice constitutes an abuse of power when there was no imminent threat to the United States, which facilitates the devolution of American democracy into authoritarianism, with an authoritarian president who has instigated an attack on the United States Capitol, denied persons due process of the law, and called for the impeachment of federal judges who ruled against him-- making Donald J. Trump a threat to American democracy.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war: ``[The Congress shall have the Power . . . ] To declare war . . . '' At the time, the Framers of the Constitution emphasized the goal of limiting the monarchical power of any single individual person to take a country to war over personal whims and preferences--no constitutional exception exists for a successful military action.

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. President Trump has devolved and continues to devolve American democracy into authoritarianism by disregarding the separation of powers and now, usurping congressional war powers.

In all of this, Donald J. Trump has abused the powers of the presidency in a manner contrary to his trust as President, has become a threat to American democracy, subverted our constitutional government, and devolved democracy into authoritarianism, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

Wherefore Donald J. Trump, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

Mr. Speaker, impeachment is the most consequential tool Congress has for upholding our duty to defend the Constitution and protect the American people from a president who has betrayed his oath and engaged in illegal conduct.

Bringing an impeachment resolution to the floor in the manner it was done by Congressman Green undermines the ability of Congress to make the serious and very real case for impeachment against this or any future president. Impeachment necessitates a deliberate process of investigation and thorough documentation of crimes committed against the American people.

President Trump was impeached twice during his first term because he proved himself to be unfit to serve in office, and I voted to impeach him both times. Before bringing those resolutions to the floor, the Democratic Majority in the House committed ourselves to building the case, as a prosecutor does for a trial. We conducted a formal inquiry during the first impeachment, where we subpoenaed witnesses and held public hearings. We produced the evidence to demonstrate that the President had abused his power and obstructed Congress.

When President Trump was impeached a second time for inciting an insurrection, the Democratic conference worked together to draft a factual and thoughtful impeachment resolution to reflect what Members of Congress and our entire nation witnessed on January 6, 2021. When the resolution was brought to the floor a week later, almost every House Democrat was a cosponsor. I presided over that vote in the House of Representatives, with full confidence in the case we were presenting to the American people.

By contrast, the impeachment resolution that I will vote to table on June 25th was drafted in isolation by one member, and Representative Green introduced it a mere two hours before he came to the floor to push it to a vote. It was rushed to the floor with no coordination with the larger body of us who are working to hold President Trump accountable. It was not a serious attempt to gather the evidence and convince the American people of the grave nature of the President's violations of the law and the Constitution.

Currently, the House of Representatives is controlled by the President's party, and it is clear that their majority is unwilling to take even the most basic step to hold President Trump accountable for his illegal and unconstitutional actions. To be clear, the House of Representatives has a duty under the Constitution to hold a president accountable for illegal conduct. This obligation begins with an open, transparent process of Congressional hearings, investigations, and subpoenas. The Republican majority controlling this Congress will not allow that work to move forward, but a premature and poorly reasoned resolution like this hurts our ability to progress on the path to accountability for President Trump.

My constituents can count on me to hold Mr. Trump accountable in a manner that is fully transparent and clearly documents his malfeasance as the President of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise.

I rise today in the name of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. I rise today because our country is nearing a moment of decision. I rise because we are at the intersection of democracy and autocracy.

I rise to announce that, at this moment in time, I have filed H. Res. 537. H. Res. 537 is a privileged resolution. H. Res. 537 has been filed because I believe that the President of the United States has committed an impeachable act.

H. Res. 537 addresses abuse of Presidential powers by disregarding the separation of powers, devolving American democracy into an authoritarian--an authoritarian, an authoritarian--government, usurping congressional power to declare war.

Mr. Speaker, I take no delight in what I am doing. I do this because I love my country. I do this because I understand that the Constitution is going to be meaningful or it will be meaningless. I do it because I understand that the President of the United States of America has a duty to consult Congress before taking this country to war. I do it because no one person should have the power to take over 300 million people to war without consulting with the Congress of the United States of America.

I do this because, if I do not, this authoritarian President that we currently have will continue to assume power. He has already instigated an assault on the citadel of democracy, the Capitol of the United States of America. He went so far as to pardon the persons who were actually involved in the assault. He has denied persons due process of the law.

I believe that, if we do not take immediate action, this authoritarian President will devolve the country into authoritarianism. I believe he is a would-be dictator who would become a dictator.

I today announce that, later today, I will bring these Articles of Impeachment to the floor, and I will call for a vote. I believe that the hour of decision is upon us, and we all have to decide: Are we going to go down and choose the path of democracy, or will we allow ourselves to choose the low road of autocracy?

I believe that this country has come too far to allow a single person to declare war without conferring with the Congress of the United States of America.

This is why I stand. This is what I will do, and I do it in the name of my country that I love dearly.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained due to illness and was unable to cast my vote on Roll Call No. 175.

Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 175.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of the privileges of the House and offer the resolution that was previously noticed.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.