The Vermont state senate passed a symbolic resolution on Friday calling on the US Congress to impeach US President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over their handling of the unpopular Iraq war.
The resolution, passed by a 16 to 9 vote, urges Vermont's representatives in Washington to introduce a resolution in Congress requiring the US House Judiciary Committee to start impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney.
Vermont's congressional delegation has shown no serious interest in the idea, and the new Democratic-controlled Congress has also steered clear of the subject.
Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold's call last year to censure Bush - a step short of an impeachment - found scant support on Capitol Hill, even among fellow Democrats.
Vermont, known for its colonial inns, maple sugar, autumn foliage and century-old dairy farms, has been at the vanguard of a grass-roots protest movement to impeach Bush.
About 40 Vermont towns passed resolutions at their annual meetings this year calling for impeachment, putting pressure on state lawmakers to bring the message to Washington. The state, which was once a republic, has a history of political independence. Last year it elected Bernie Saunders, the US Senate's first Democratic Socialist.
But it ranks 49th out of the 50 states in population, with about 623,000 people, according to 2005 Census Bureau estimates. A similar version is pending in Vermont's state House Judiciary Committee.