WASHINGTON — On the same day Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appeared before a Manhattan judge, Western Maryland Rep. April McClain Delaney called for President Donald Trump’s impeachment over the operation that brought Maduro to the United States.

“I cannot stand by as my Republican colleagues allow President Trump to defy the rule of law, repeatedly overstep the authority of Congress and undermine our national security and the well-being of my fellow Americans,” McClain Delaney, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday to The Baltimore Sun, calling for Trump’s impeachment.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment prior to The Sun’s print deadline.

While most Democrats have criticized the operation, few have said it was an impeachable offense. McClain Delaney joined a group of more progressive members of Congress who have broached the issue.

In a post from a campaign social media account, McClain Delaney said on Saturday that congressional Democrats needed to “seriously deliberate” whether to pursue impeachment of the president. However, leading Democrats, including Rep. Jamie Raskin of Montgomery County, have focused on saying that Congress should reassert its constitutional authority rather than turning to impeach.

McClain Delaney is going a step further. In an interview with The Sun on Monday, the freshman lawmaker said that, after further consideration, she decided to call for impeachment. McClain Delaney cited the “cumulative effect” of actions taken by Trump since his inauguration — from dismantling government agencies without congressional authority to calling for sitting Democratic lawmakers to be executed.

Maduro’s arrest alone did plenty to meet the threshold, according to McClain Delaney.

“It’s not like protection of American soil and properties and interests,” she said. “What to me really put the icing on the cake is: the going in without congressional authorization, (then) the running of the country, and then not even a real articulation of the rationale, (then) the follow of the implications for not just America, but for the whole hemisphere.”

“There is just absolutely no line to hold him in check,” she added. “Like, when does it stop?”

Being among the caucus’ most liberal members on an issue is somewhat new ground for McClain Delaney. Representing a swing district made up of Frederick, Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties, and part of Montgomery County, she sought to forge a moderate identity during her first year in Congress.

Although she largely votes with her caucus, McClain Delaney, for example, was among a small group of Democrats who supported the Laken Riley Act, a bill to detain illegal immigrants who commit crimes for potential deportation. She also voiced a desire to join the Problem Solvers, a middle-ground caucus that requires a member to bring a lawmaker from the other party to join.

Despite her more moderate track record, McClain Delaney pushed back on the idea that her call for impeachment could be a political move. She is facing a primary challenge from former Rep. David Trone, who has sought to paint her as too friendly with the GOP.

“This is just an evolution of my journey over the past 11 months,” McClain Delaney said. “People have said, ‘Why aren’t you fighting harder?’ ”

She doesn’t plan “to step in front of our leaders” and file articles of impeachment right now. But, McClain Delaney told The Sun, she does plan to discuss the issue with other members of her party. She hopes the caucus will move in that direction.

“My voice has some credibility because I don’t just jump immediately,” she said.

Should McClain Delaney or another lawmaker file articles of impeachment, she admitted it would likely go nowhere in the Republican-controlled House. Despite the long odds, she said it was the right time to call for it.

“If not now, when?”

_____

©2026 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.