Donald Trump

Vermont Town Weighs Impeachment of President Donald Trump

Charlotte voted to call on Congress to investigate whether impeachment is warranted

A small Vermont town passed an advisory resolution calling on Congress to look into whether sufficient grounds exist to pursue an impeachment of President Donald Trump.

“It's the first time I ever made a motion,” said Susan Ohanian, a retired teacher who introduced the advisory resolution at the Town Meeting Day gathering in Charlotte.

Ohanian said she believes President Trump’s many business holdings mean he’s improperly profiting off the office of the president.

“It puts us in a very precarious position,” Ohanian warned.

Her resolution came on Vermont’s traditional Town Meeting Day, when communities gather to discuss budgets and other local issues.

In Charlotte, a community of fewer than 4,000, whether to raise taxes for a network of recreation trails actually saw far more interest than presidential politics.

“We do the little things and we do the big things, because we are a part of the United States as well as being very concerned about what happens locally,” Ohanian observed.

Ohanian’s advisory resolution requesting that Congress look into whether sufficient grounds exist for the impeachment of President Trump passed on a voice vote.

A copy of the resolution will also be sent to Rep. Peter Welch, a Democrat who is Vermont’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“It split our country and it continues to split our country,” Charlotte voter David Blanshine said of the 2016 election results.

Blanshine voted “no” on the resolution Ohanian introduced.

“These kinds of actions are, I think, just continuing to drive us toward those polar opposites and not bringing us together; not looking to compromise or heal,” Blanshine told necn.

At Town Meeting Day in 2008, a small handful of Vermont communities voted to call for the indictment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, alleging violations of the Constitution.

Those votes, like this latest one in Charlotte, were largely symbolic.

Still, Susan Ohanian knows all movements start with a voice speaking up, and she was glad hers was heard.

Contact Us