Donald Trump Impeachment: Top Democrats Refuse To Act Even As Poll Shows Record High Support To Impeach Trump

Even as a new poll showed the highest level of support yet for the impeachment of Donald Trump, top Democrats in Congress have refused to even openly discuss how to impeach Trump, and will not consider discussion of impeachment on the floor of the House or Senate, according to a new report published Thursday in the online magazine Slate.

A poll released earlier this week by Public Policy Polling showed that nearly half of all Americans now support removing Trump from office through the impeachment process, a new high. A poll in August by the Public Religion Research Institute found 40 percent in favor of impeachment.

But the PPP poll released on October 31 saw that number jump to 49 percent who want to see Trump impeached, compared to 41 percent who say that they oppose impeaching Trump. The October poll marked the sixth consecutive month that PPP showed more Americans in favor of impeachment than against it — though the total number supporting impeachment has yet to hit 50 percent in the PPP poll.

Also, an ABC News poll this week showed that 49 percent of Americans believe that Trump is a criminal, while only 44 percent say that Trump has committed no crimes.

Those negative perceptions of Trump are reflected in his approval ratings, which continue to remain submerged below the 40 percent level. According to the weighted average of all approval polls compiled by the statistical site FiveThirtyEight, Trump’s overall approval rating with Americans is an abysmal 37.8 percent as of Friday, the 288th day of his presidency — and Trump has not topped an average approval rating of 40 percent since May 15.

But despite the record-high level of support for impeachment and Trump’s unrelenting unpopularity, top congressional Democrats flatly refuse to consider the possibility that Trump could be impeached, according to the Slate article — which may be read in its entirety by visiting this link.

In the House of Representatives, where under the United States Constitution the impeachment process must start, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi last month answered a flat “no” when asked whether she supports a House resolution to impeach Trump.

“I think (Pelosi) and I have made it very clear that we think impeachment, which is a very powerful tool that the Congress has to ensure that the leader of our country is one who should be our leader … is premature at this point in time,” added House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who is the second-ranking Democrat in the House.

Texas Representative Al Green has drawn up articles of impeachment against Trump and discussed them on the House floor in October — but stopped short of forcing a vote to begin the impeachment process, a concession by Green that reportedly left Pelosi feeling “relief.”

Green’s resolution to impeach Trump may be read in its entirety by visiting this link.

In the Senate, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has also resisted any discussion of impeachment — but the Senate could act on an impeachment resolution only if one were to first come from the House. Under the Constitution, it is the House that must actually “impeach” a president by passing articles detailing his impeachable offenses. At least one article of impeachment must pass by a simple majority.

But in order to impose a penalty on a sitting president, such as removal from office, the Senate must hold a “trial” and then vote to “convict” by a two-thirds majority. With Democrats failing to hold majorities in either the House or Senate, even if they moved to impeach Trump the prospect of the impeachment actually happening appears dim at best.

But the resistance of top Democrats to impeachment has not stopped the party’s top cash donor, hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer — who has given more than $91 million to Democratic and liberal candidates and causes — from starting his own movement to remove Trump from office. A petition to impeach Trump posted by Steyer and backed by $10 million in his money has garnered more than 1 million signatures since it went online October 20.

[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]