Tenth US city calls for Donald Trump's impeachment

Brookline in Massachusetts is the latest local government to send a message to Congress

Ten local governments and some members of Congress have called for Donald Trump's impeachment (Olivier Douliery - Pool/Getty Images)

The Massachusetts city of Brookline has became the tenth community in the US to call for the impeachment of Donald Trump.

A resolution, introduced by residents Lisa Kolarik and Alexandra Borns-Weil, recently passed the city's council.

It enables Brookline, with a population of approximately 60,000, to ask members of Congress in Washington to look into the impeachment process and support a legal investigation.

Cambridge, Amherst, Pelham and Leverett are the other cities in Massachusetts, a reliably Democratic state in presidential elections, to pass similar resolutions.

They join Los Angeles, Berkeley, Richmond, and Alameda in California.

At least 32 members of the Chicago City Council have also supported an impeachment investigation resolution, but it is still in the process of being brought to a vote.

For some, like Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar, the last straw was Mr Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey.

“Donald Trump is a racist, a bigot, and a misogynist, and he is attempting to enact policies around his beliefs. But that’s not why I introduced the resolution…[he] continues to obstruct the investigation into Russian influence over his administration, in his business dealings, and the alleged collusion during the 2016 election,” Mr Pawar told Politico.

However, local governments cannot initiate the legal process towards impeachment. That power lies solely with the House of Representatives in Washington.

Ron Fein is the Legal Director of Free Speech For People, the non-profit organisation behind impeachdonaldtrumpnow.org and an advocacy group for protecting the US Constitution.

Mr Fein told The Independent that the effect of these local governments taking action sends a “powerful signal” for what “constituents demand” in House members’ home districts.

With an election coming up in 2018, the effect could be profound in districts where there are tight races not just between opposing parties, but between Republican candidates as well as the president’s party exhibits some divisions in Congress.

Some politicians, mostly Republicans, have said the calls for impeachment are an example of putting party before the good of the country given that campaigning for 2018 has begun.

Mr Pawar is running for governor of Illinois and all the local governments who have passed impeachment resolutions are in solidly Democratic districts and states.

However, Mr Fein said the “impeachment campaign is a non-partisan call to action for serious violations of the Constitution by the president. Members of Congress need to set aside partisan differences, put country before party, and hold the president to account for his actions.“

“These local resolutions are just the start of a national wave,” Mr Fein said.