Rep. Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said during a press conference Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard and Marine units in response to protests in Los Angeles was an impeachable offense.
The rhetoric was the furthest a congressional Democrat has gone in calling for consequences for the administration’s aggressive response to demonstrations that broke out over the weekend.
Standing alongside Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Grace Meng Tuesday morning, the New York Democrat said the protests across LA were largely peaceful — until Trump got involved.
“The Los Angeles Police Department had largely stabilized the situation, but instead of de-escalating, President Trump seized control of the National Guard forces in defiance of constitutional norms and poured gasoline on an already volatile moment,” Clarke said.
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When asked if Trump’s actions rose to the level of impeachment, Clarke concurred.
“I believe it is. I definitely believe it is,” she responded, “But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Trump sent in thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles on Saturday in response to protests against immigration enforcement that had started the night before. He escalated on Monday, deploying hundreds of Marines to the area and telling reporters he wouldn’t mind if Newsom was arrested.
“I would do it, if I were Tom [Homan],” Trump told reporters, referring to his border czar. “Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing.”
At a separate House caucus meeting, Rep. Pete Aguilar, the House Democratic Caucus’ chair, said the party isn’t ready to talk impeachment.
“I’ve said it before from this podium, that House Democrats aren’t focused on impeachment today,” Aguilar said during the press conference. “We are focused on holding the president and House Republicans accountable for the policies that attack their basic needs, like health care and food assistance.”
Democratic leaders also condemned the administration’s arrest of David Huerta, a labor union leader who was arrested during protests over the weekend.
On the Senate floor this morning, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Trump to pull back his orders, calling them a “dangerous, authoritarian overreach that threatens the very fabric of our democracy.”
Rep. Emily Randall told Politico that the concept of impeachment and getting it across the finish line are two separate conversations.
“We saw Donald Trump impeached twice and re-elected,” she told Politico. “So do I think this is unconstitutional and un-American? Yes. Do I think the American people oppose it? Yes.”
Earlier attempts at impeachment have come from Reps. Al Green and Shri Thanedar, though both efforts struggled to gain support among Democrats.
Green, who made several more failed attempts to impeach Trump during his first term, made his filing on May 15, citing Trump’s plan for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip.
“Injustice in Gaza is a threat to justice in the United States of America,” Green said at the time.
Thanedar last month called for Democrats to bring an impeachment vote to the full House but ultimately opted not to follow through on his threats.
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Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
This story was produced as part of a partnership between NOTUS and The City.
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