title:  More And More Local Governments Are Passing Resolutions To Impeach Trump (DETAILS)
text: Congress may not be quite ready to impeach Trump, but many small towns and cities are doing their part to move the entire process along and make his impeachment a reality.Curren, ly there are 10 local governments that have passed resolutions calling for impeachment, with Brookline, Mass., becoming the latest on Thursday and most likely not the last. Four other Massachusetts districts have also made the move, Cambridge, Amherst, Pelham and Leverett, with Newton also having a proposal up for consideration, but Massachusetts isn t the only state Trump should be wary of; California is another hot spot when it comes to local councils calling for his head, with Los Angeles, Richmond, Alameda and Berkeley overwhelmingly passing resolutions asking for the impeachment process to begin.But what, if any, effect does passing these measures actually have? While local councils have zero authority in the whole process, the goal is to get the ball rolling by convincing Congress that at least launching an investigation into Trump to determine if impeachment charges are warranted is something that desperately needs to happen. If successful, that will be the first step necessary in getting articles of impeachment drafted and voted on by the House. From there, a majority vote from the House will result in the articles then being sent to the Senate and a trial will be held, requiring a two-thirds agreement to convict.The movement of getting local councils to take a stand and be heard was initially organized by a group from Amherst, Mass., called Free Speech for the People. The liberal organization operates under the belief that Trump violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause in the Constitution by not fully removing himself from his private business interests before being sworn in as President of the United States of America.Without even running much of a real advertising campaign, digital or otherwise, Free Speech for the People has already garnered over a million signatures in support of Trump s impeachment through their website, impeachdonaldtrumpnow.org. The only way a president can be held accountable for abusing the public trust is via the impeachment process,  says John Bonifaz, a constitutional lawyer who heads the group.  It is at this point unclear on the law whether a sitting president can be indicted. Many Trump supporters believe that talk of having the President impeached within five months of being sworn into office is just pure politics and sour grapes on behalf of the Democrats, but Bonifaz has news for them, referencing the recent failure of liberal stronghold Chicago s to vote in the resolution to call for impeachment. If decisions are getting made that this isn t politically the right way to go, then we re putting party over country here,  Bonifaz said.  Frankly, history will judge us in this moment on how we act   I would hope that the Chicago City Council takes up this again and votes on what is at stake   that no one is above the law   even the president of the United States. Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images