In a surprising move, more than 100 Democrats joined Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday to set aside a plan by a cadre of Texas-led Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump over Saturday's bombing of Iranian nuclear sites by the United States.
The House voted 344-79 to table a resolution by Texas Democrat Al Green that would have accused President Trump of abuse of power, thereby starting a process that could lead to impeachment.
But 128 Democrats joined Republicans in shooting down the resolution, indicating that Democrats are in wide disagreement about how to move on from losing the 2024 presidential election.
President Trump has already been impeached twice by the US House, but has never been subject to the next step, removal from office by the Senate.
Democrats are also having trouble raising money for coming campaigns, with many of their big donors turning off the cash spigot while the national party considers borrowing money just to stay afloat.
Rep. Green, from the Houston area, has been trying for months to start impeachment proceedings against the President, with Tuesday's vote a kind of culmination of that effort, leading only to having his impeachment measure torpedoed..
Undeterred by the defeat, Green turned around and filed a partisan resolution accusing Mr. Trump of failing to gain the "Constitutional" authorization of Congress before ordering the airstrikes on Saturday, even though it's been widely documented that the President didn't need to gain such permission from the legislative branch to call for the bombing.