{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/hill-dems-launch-no-confidence-resolution-against-trump", "Dems launch no confidence resolution against Trump", "2017-07-19", "2017", "2017-07", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "A group of liberal House Democrats stepped up criticism of President Trump on Wednesday, introducing a \u201cno confidence\u201d resolution that officially questions Trump\u2019s fitness to serve as commander in chief.\nIt logs a laundry list of controversies swirling around the president \u2014 including his campaign\u2019s many contacts with Russian officials, his refusal to release his taxes, his verbal attacks on women and the press, and his firing of FBI Director James Comey.\nSponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), the resolution has been endorsed by 23 more Democrats, including Reps. John Lewis (Ga.), a civil rights icon; John Yarmuth (Ky.), ranking member of the Budget Committee; David Cicilline (R.I.), who leads the Democrats\u2019 policy and communications arm; and Judy Chu (Calif.), who heads the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.\nTrump\u2019s track record, Cohen said, exposes \u201ca president that you wouldn\u2019t want your children to look up to.\u201d\n\u201cThe way he talks about women, the press, the language he uses, the use of Twitter \u2014 you don\u2019t want him to be a role model,\u201d Cohen said during a press briefing in the Capitol. \u201cIt\u2019s injurious to our culture, and it\u2019s injurious to \u2026 our foreign policy.\u201d\nThe resolution has no chance of moving through the chamber, which is led by Republicans, who have largely defended Trump in the first six months of his tenure. And Cohen acknowledged that the effort is unlikely to sway a president known to buck the advice from even his closest associates.\n\u201cIs it going to have an effect on him? Apparently, his family members don\u2019t have an effect on him; his Republican friends don\u2019t; his Cabinet members don\u2019t,\u201d Cohen conceded.\nBut with Trump\u2019s approval rating at historic lows, the Democrats are hoping to send a message to voters that they\u2019re sympathetic to the public\u2019s frustration with the White House.\n\u201cThis is an attempt at a political intervention,\u201d Cohen said.\nUnveiling their resolution, the Democrats went after Trump over the recent news that he\u2019d had a second conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a dinner for world leaders during the G-20 economic summit in Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month. The meeting was previously undisclosed, and the only interpreter at the table was reportedly provided by Moscow.\n\u201cThis is not the behavior of the leader of the free world,\u201d said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).\nThe Democrats also lambasted Capitol Hill Republicans for defending Trump\u2019s actions and his unconventional approach to governing.\n\u201cIt is not normal,\u201d said Chu. \u201cTrump\u2019s behavior is cruel and unethical, and it\u2019s driving the people\u2019s faith in government to dangerously low levels.\u201d\nHouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders have focused their anti-Trump efforts on creating an independent commission to investigate any possible collusion between the president and Russia. But Cohen said he first floated his no-confidence resolution in a Democratic Steering and Policy Committee meeting, where it won Pelosi\u2019s blessing.\n\u201cShe said she didn\u2019t have a problem with us going forward with these types of actions,\u201d said Cohen, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee\u2019s subpanel on the Constitution. \u201cShe preferred people to stay focused on what she thinks is the most important item present, which is an independent prosecutor bill, which I support.\u201d\nThe outside prosecutor bill has won scant support from Republicans \u2014 only Reps. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and Justin Amash (R-Mich.) have signed on \u2014 and Cohen said he doesn\u2019t expect any broader show of GOP backing unless Trump tries to fire Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor tapped to lead the Justice Department\u2019s probe into Russian election meddling.\nCohen predicted such a firing is likely.\n\u201cAt that point, I think Republicans will then call for an independent prosecutor,\u201d he said.\nSome Democrats have been critical of party leaders for focusing too intently on Trump \u2014 a strategy that backfired in November\u2019s elections and left the Republicans pulling all the levers of power in Washington.Those Democrats want the party to concentrate on jobs, wages, healthcare and other bread-and-butter economic issues that affect their constituents on a daily basis.\nBut Cohen and other supporters of the no confidence resolution rejected the notion that the Democrats can\u2019t promote a jobs agenda and attack Trump simultaneously.\n\u201cYou can do both,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can attack the jobs and the economy front \u2026 and also question this president who puts our very values at stake and our democracy at stake.\u201d\nChu agreed.\n\u201cThese are not mutually exclusive tactics to take,\u201d she said. \u201cYes, we have to concentrate on those issues, but that doesn\u2019t mean that we ignore what President Trump is doing to undermine this country.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/hill-dems-launch-no-confidence-resolution-against-trump"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5386310406029224, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}