How to Initiate Impeachment from your Local Government

You can ask your city or state, to send an impeachment resolution to the House of Representatives. Richmond, CA has already done this.

Here are the steps for a town:

  1. Organize a small group of 2 or more people that you trust. It is hard to do this by yourself.
  2. Write up a resolution that can be voted on by your town. Here is a sample resolution for a town and a state.
  3. Circulate a petition asking for your town to pass this resolution. Stand outside the market and gather signatures. Don't argue with people. Not everybody has to sign.
  4. Find out when your town council meets. Ask for your resolution item to be placed on the agenda.
  5. Present your resolution. Give them the signed petitions. Be prepared to explain why it is appropriate for a local government to do this.
  6. Don't be surprised if they decide to defer a vote until the next meeting. They will need to study this. Then come back with more people at the next meeting.
  7. If they don't pass it, take careful note of their objections. Address their objections in a new resolution. Then wait for more crimes that you can add to the resolution. It won't take long. Then reintroduce the modified proposal.
  8. If they pass it then make sure that it gets signed and sent properly to the Speaker of the House.
  9. After one month, follow up with the Speaker of the House office to make sure that the petition has been received and will be printed in the Congressional Record.
  10. Look for a record to appear in the Congressional Record. If it does not appear then somebody in Congress broke the rules.
  11. Send us a note so we can add it to our list. Please include the text of the resolution.

The process for the state is similar. But you will need the help of a state Senator or Representative for this to get anywhere. If you need to you could ask your town to petition the State government.

Guidelines for the Resolution

Your town council will be voting on whether or not to send a petition to Congress. They are not voting on whether Trump is guilty. So the resolution should not state that Trump is guilty of crimes. It should simply say that there is evidence that impeachable offenses were committed and that Congress should investigate. Then if the evidence is sufficient, Trump should be impeached.

Remember that impeachment is just an accusation. If Trump is impeached then the Senate will hold a trial and determine whether or not he is guilty.

The resolution should be about one page. If it is much longer then it just increases the odds that someone will find an item that they cannot agree to. Be willing to strike some text if needed to get it passed.

Here is a sample resolution for a town and a state.