In April 2007, United States Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) filed an impeachment resolution () against Vice President Dick Cheney, seeking his trial in the Senate on three charges. After months of inaction, Kucinich re-introduced the exact content of H. Res 333 as a new resolution numbered in November 2007. Both resolutions were referred to the Judiciary Committee immediately after their introduction and the Committee did not consider either. Both resolutions expired upon the termination of the 110th United States Congress on January 3, 2009.
Process
The resolution charged that Vice President Cheney:
had purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction had fabricated a threat about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, in order to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against Iraq in a manner damaging to U.S. national security interests in violation of his constitutional oath and duty, openly threatened aggression against Iran absent any real threat to the United States, and had done so with the proven U.S. capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining U.S. national security. Library of Congress, H.RES.333, Summary as of: 04/24/2007--Introduced , THOMASLibrary of Congress, HRES 333 IH , THOMAS
The resolution was authored and submitted by Congressman Dennis Kucinich, a representative of Ohio who was also a presidential candidate in the 2008 election. Congressman Kucinich has made available more than 45 documents supporting the articles of impeachment at his Congressional website, including at least 15 for each article. "Supporting Documents for H Res 333"
Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced the resolution on April 24, 2007. During his press conference announcing the resolution, Kucinich stated that he had not informed his party's leadership of the resolution and had not recently spoken about the resolution with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi or Congressman John Conyers, the Chairman of the committee to which his resolution was referred.Michael Roston, Kucinich announces impeachment charges against Vice President Cheney, The Raw Story, April 24, 2007
Upon introduction, Resolution 333 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Congressman John Conyers. Kucinich's resolution slowly gathered additional co-sponsors, but the Judiciary Committee never addressed the resolution at a hearing. On November 6, 2007, Kucinich read the text of HRES 333 on the House floor as a new resolution (H Res 799 ), offering it as a "Question of the Privileges of the House". Democratic leadership, led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, immediately moved to table the resolution. In what was expected to be an overwhelming vote in favor of tabling,"House Avoids Cheney Impeachment Debate", November 7, 2007. Retrieved on June 26, 2008. Republicans began voting against doing so, trying to force a debate "potentially embarrassing" to Democrats."Kucinich Offers Bill to Impeach Cheney", The New York Times, November 7, 2007. Retrieved on June 26, 2009. The resolution was kept alive after a vote of 251-162 against tabling, with 165 Republicans voting against terminating it. To avoid a debate, Hoyer then made a motion to refer H Res 799 to the Judiciary Committee for its review, although this referral would not require Committee action on the resolution. This motion was successful and the resolution was referred to the Judiciary Committee after a vote of 218-194. House speaker Nancy Pelosi has said "impeachment is off the table", and the Democrats have no interest in impeaching Mr. Cheney or President Bush over the Iraq war.
Both resolutions were referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, chaired by Congressman Jerrold Nadler in addition to the Judiciary Committee. Neither committee ever held a hearing to consider either resolution. Both resolutions expired at the end of the 110th Congress on January 3, 2009.
Co-sponsors In addition to Rep. Kucinich, the prime sponsor of the resolution, there were twenty-six co-sponsors:
Name of Representative State - District Party Date signed NotesTammy Baldwin Wisconsin - 2 Democratic January 8, 2007 member of House Judiciary CommitteeLeonard Boswell Iowa - 3 Democratic February 14, 2008 Robert Brady Pennsylvania - 1 Democratic July 24, 2007 Yvette Clarke New York - 11 Democratic June 6, 2007 William Lacy Clay, Jr. Missouri - 1 Democratic January 5, 2007 Steve Cohen Tennessee - 9 Democratic April 8, 2007 member of House Judiciary Committeemember of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil LibertiesDanny K. Davis Illinois - 7 Democratic May 11, 2007 Keith Ellison Minnesota - 5 Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party June 28, 2007 member of House Judiciary Committeemember of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil LibertiesSam Farr California - 17Democratic December 7, 2007 Bob Filner California - 51Democratic December 7, 2007 Raul Grijalva Arizona - 7Democratic May 12, 2007 Sheila Jackson-Lee Texas - 18 Democratic April 8, 2007 member of House Judiciary CommitteeHank Johnson Georgia - 4 Democratic June 28, 2007 member of House Judiciary CommitteeCarolyn Kilpatrick Michigan - 13 Democratic July 9, 2007 Barbara Lee California - 9 Democratic July 6, 2007 Jim McDermott Washington - 7 Democratic October 7, 2007 James Moran Virginia - 8 Democratic October 7, 2007 Gwen Moore Wisconsin - 4 Democratic December 19, 2007 Donald M. Payne New Jersey - 10Democratic January 8, 2007 Jan Schakowsky Illinois - 9 Democratic January 5, 2007 Pete Stark California - 13 Democratic May 3, 2008 Edolphus Towns New York - 10 Democratic September 27, 2007 Maxine Waters California - 35 Democratic December 6, 2007 member of House Judiciary CommitteeDiane Watson California - 33 Democratic October 16, 2007 Robert Wexler Florida - 19 Democratic November 6, 2008 member of House Judiciary CommitteeLynn Woolsey California - 6 Democratic July 6, 2007 Albert Wynn Maryland - 4 Democratic October 5, 2007
See also Impeachment Federal impeachment in the United States Efforts to impeach George W. Bush List of efforts to impeach vice presidents of the United States
References
External links full text of resolution (in PDF format, at Kucinich's Congressional website) full text of resolution (in HTML format, at THOMAS) supporting documents for H. Res. 333 (index of several documents in PDF format at Kucinich's Congressional website) H.Res.333 on OpenCongress