Dennis Kucinich, Representative from Ohio, introduced three articles of impeachment in the House of Representatives accusing Cheney of plunging the country into the Iraq War under false pretenses and of promoting aggression against Iran.
"I believe the vice president's conduct of office has been destructive to the founding purposes of our nation," Kucinich told a press conference.
The representative said Cheney had undermined the country's security by manipulating intelligence data in order to mislead the U.S. into the war by citing the alleged menace of weapons of mass destruction from Iraq.
He said the death toll in Iraq has reached over 3,300 U.S. servicemen and 650,000 Iraqis following the 2003 invasion, which he said in the articles has already cost Washington $500 billion.
Kucinich said the impeachment procedures, which he launched without co-sponsors, were intentionally aimed at Cheney and not President George Bush so as to rule out the possibility of the vice president taking over the presidency in case of Bush's resignation.
Cheney seemed unnerved by the move, saying he was focused on the work that American voters had entrusted him with.
The move by Kucinich, who ran for president in 2004 and has become popular in liberal circles for his staunch criticism of the Iraq War, which he opposed from the very beginning, is unlikely to win lawmakers' support considering the promise made by Democrats after taking control of Congress in January not to consider impeachment proposals against Bush or Cheney.
"Nothing has changed. It's off the table," a spokesperson for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "We're focusing on tough issues like bringing the war in Iraq to a responsible end."
In order to pass, impeachment articles need to be approved by the House Judiciary Committee and to be followed by a vote in the House of Representatives before being submitted to the Senate.
The House impeached President Bill Clinton in 1998, but the Senate turned down the initiative.
