U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small announced this weekend that she will vote to approve articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
The House is expected to vote on two articles of impeachment against Trump this week.
The freshman Democrat said in a statement that she believes “impeachment is the necessary response to President Trump’s use of the Executive Office of the President for his own personal and political gain.”
Torres Small won election in a very narrow race in a conservative district that Trump won in 2016. Torres Small was one of the moderate and conservative Democrats who won congressional elections in 2018 as part of a Democratic wave.
The articles of impeachment approved by the House Judiciary Committee last week charge Trump with abuse of power for his conduct in asking Ukraine to help his political campaign by investigating Joe Biden’s son. Biden, a former Vice President and U.S. Senator, is a leading Democratic candidate to face Trump in 2020. The second article of impeachment charged Trump with obstruction of justice by blocking efforts by Congress in the impeachment inquiry.
“We cannot allow any President of either party to abuse the power of the highest office, jeopardizing our country’s national security in the process, to pressure foreign leaders to conduct investigations against political rivals,” Torres Small said. “We also cannot allow any President to obstruct Congress’ power to investigate impeachable offenses by prohibiting White House and other administration officials from testifying or providing evidence. I must act to protect our national security, our Constitution, and the integrity of our elections.”
The other two members of Congress from New Mexico are also Democrats and signaled their support for the articles of impeachment.
Last week, 1st Congressional District Congresswoman Deb Haaland called Trump’s conduct “worse than Watergate.”
And 3rd Congressional District Congressman Ben Ray Luján said, “The evidence is uncontested – President Trump put his own political interests ahead of the interests of our country by repeatedly inviting foreign interference in our elections.”
If Trump becomes the third president to be impeached, as seems likely, the Senate would hold a trial to determine whether or not Trump will be removed from office. The Senate majority is unlikely to remove Trump from office; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is coordinating with the White House on how to handle the trial.
