Chairwoman Maloney Votes to Impeach President Donald J. Trump

Dec 18, 2019
Press Release

Washington, D.C. (Dec. 18, 2019)—Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach the 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, gave the following statement on the House Floor today: 

Watch Chairwoman Maloney’s floor statement.

Floor Statement of Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney
Committee on Oversight and Reform
Debate on Articles of Impeachment for President Donald J. Trump
December 18, 2019

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump. 

President Trump abused the power of his office for his own personal and political gain, at the expense of our national security.

President Trump’s wholesale obstruction of Congress is unprecedented, indisputable — and impeachable. 

President Trump is the first President in history to openly and completely defy all aspects of the Constitutional impeachment process. 

In an attempt to cover up his abuse of power, he ordered the entire Executive Branch not to participate in the inquiry and directed it to defy lawful subpoenas from Congress. 

As Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, I find this obstruction particularly offensive. 

Even President Nixon accepted Congress’ impeachment authority and allowed his aides and advisors to produce documents to Congress.  And President Nixon allowed current and former staff to testify in both the House Impeachment and the Senate Watergate investigations — including his Chief of Staff and White House Counsel.

By contrast, President Trump — without any legal basis — directed current and former officials not to cooperate with the House’s inquiry, which resulted in nine Administration officials defying subpoenas for testimony.  And in response to the House’s inquiry, President Trump refused to turn over even one single – not one single document to Congress in response to lawful subpoenas. 

Put simply, President Trump’s actions are even worse than Nixon’s.  Let me repeat, President Trump’s actions are even worse than Nixon’s.

Our founding fathers established a system of checks and balances.  They spread out power between the branches of government.  They decided that no one would be a king.  That no one is above the law — including the President.

And they gave the responsibility of impeachment solely to the People’s House.  When President Trump defies our subpoenas and obstructs our impeachment inquiry, he seeks to place himself above the Constitution and above the law.

We cannot let that stand.  And if we do, then that’s the end of Congress as a co-equal branch of government — and we’ve allowed President Trump to elevate himself above the law.

It is our solemn duty under the Constitution to impeach President Trump for his blatant abuse of power and his obstruction of Congress.

I yield back.

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116th Congress