House Democrat drops Trump impeachment attempt after pushback from his party

Michigan Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar on Wednesday announced he was dropping his effort to impeach President Donald Trump for the time being, which comes after fellow party members criticized the move.

Thanedar introduced seven articles of impeachment against Trump on Tuesday, filing them as privilege, which means that the chamber only has two days to vote on it. He first introduced the seven articles last month, and is the first lawmaker to try and impeach the president this year.

“In the fifteen days since I filed seven articles of impeachment against President Trump, he has committed more impeachable offenses, most dangerously, accepting a $400 million private jet from Qatar, which even Republican Members of Congress have called wrong,” Thanedar wrote on X. 

“So, after talking with many colleagues, I have decided not to force a vote on impeachment today,” he continued. “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.”

Multiple House Democrats fumed over the efforts earlier Wednesday, claiming they were "unhelpful" because the caucus does not have the votes.

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark said her party's leadership was expecting to block the articles sometime Wednesday, according to the Daily Caller.

Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, who played a prominent role in Trump's impeachments during his first term, slammed the articles as "idiotic" and “horrible” during a Democratic Caucus meeting, according to NOTUS.

Democratic Nevada Rep. Susie Lee called the articles "completely unhelpful" and "crazy," and one anonymous House Democrat told Axios that the move was "the dumbest f***ing thing. Utterly selfish behavior.”

Another said that Trump should be impeached, but that Democrats do not have the votes to pull it off. 

Thanedar, who is facing two primary challengers next year, has accused Trump of obstruction of justice, abuse of power, usurpation of power, bribery and corruption.

The lawmaker defended his move in a statement to the Daily Caller, claiming he believed there was "no wrong time" to impeach the president.

“I brought up these articles because I firmly believe this president has committed impeachable crimes," he said. "It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing,”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.