City Council rejects impeachment resolution, votes to send letters to congressional delegation

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Olympia City Council rejected a proposed impeachment resolution and instead voted 4-3 Tuesday night to send letters to Washington’s congressional delegation informing them that Olympia residents have concerns about President Donald Trump's actions.

The citizen activist group known as Puget Sound Communities 4 Impeachment last week asked the council to consider passing a resolution calling on Congress to investigate Trump for alleged illegal activity. Without much notice, the council heard the group’s request, but rejected the resolution.



The council voted 4-3 to send a letter instead to the state's congressional delegation on behalf of residents sharing their concerns. The city manager called it a strongly worded letter, but it does not send the same message a resolution would.

According to Puget Sound Communities 4 Impeachment, 14 other cities have passed similar resolutions to investigate Trump for alleged illegal activity. They call attention to the president’s business dealings accusing the president of profiting from his office in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause.  Many of the cities are in California, including Los Angeles and Berkeley.

Olympia City Council members said although they disagree with many of the president’s policies, they don’t believe passing a resolution is the right approach. The mayor said she wanted more time to review the allegations laid out in the resolution, and the city would need time to redraft the language before it would be considered again.