Let’s talk about this Impeachment thing real quick
I feel like within the last year or so, the United States has taken the world’s breath away. I mean, look at us; The clowns running Washington are rich as hell, we put a reality TV star in office, and we handled a global pandemic like we were newborn babies. However, the real cherry on top has to be an impeachment right before an inauguration. The call for impeachment comes from a fear that President Trump could instigate more violence before his term ends. If you were to ask an American citizen their thoughts on the riots at capitol hill, the majority would agree Trump was wrong. However, if you ask the majority of American citizens if he should be impeached this late, the answers are all over the place. Many people don’t see the need to impeach him this late, and then there’s people who want to chop his head off. Yet, there are also the people who have been wondering….on what grounds? Let’s discuss how this all started.
Heres some useful information on Impeachment in the U.S.
The constitution includes laws on Impeachment to protect the public interest. The impeachment laws are based on Great Britain’s laws that permitted Congress to overthrow a king. Considering Great Britain ruled our forefather’s country, I would presume they knew what they were doing when creating a better version of this law. Article Two, Section Four of the U.S. Constitution states that Congress can remove a U.S. president from office for “Treason, Bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Grounds for Impeachment viewed within a broad interpretation allow Congress to impeach a president for a political agenda. Interpreting the laws through a thin lens still allows for confusion towards “high crimes and misdemeanors.” What did our forefathers consider high crime? Does the president have to kill someone? Or is it just a blow job from Monica Lewinsky? Fortunately, Alexander Hamilton published an essay in 1787 that wipes away some confusion. The Federalist №65 provided that those who signed the constitution included Article Two for the people’s interest. Hamilton stated that Impeachment should occur from “offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men.” Put merely; Impeachment can never happen because a member of Congress disagrees with the president’s agenda. High crimes and misdemeanors are to be interpreted as anything that would harm the public’s interest, not Congress. Unfortunately for Trump, those within Congress hate him so much they devised a concrete plan to impeach him for the public interest.
Pelosi thinks a few more days of Trump could be dangerous
Not only are they trying to get Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment, but Congress also discovered that they could impeach Trump on the grounds that he violated the 14th amendment. I think most of you know the 14th amendment as the amendment that abolished slavery. Maybe even the amendment that carried its way through the civil rights movement and the sexual revolution. Article 3 of that very amendment states that no person within Congress, the vice president, or the president who has taken an oath can engage in “insurrection or rebellion of the same.” The riots at capital hill could be described as president Trump engaging in rebellion, even if it was through social media.
Okay, so Congress has come back to impeach Trump for the second time, and they are more prepared than ever. However, should Trump be impeached by the Senate, he will be the first U.S. President to make it past the house of representatives. There have only been two presidents in the history of this country that have been impeached. We all know the story of Bill Clinton; I mean, his affair became iconic. His impeachment was less of a burden and more of a cash cow, so we won’t get into that. Andrew Johnson, on the other hand, his impeachment might have been unconstitutional. Andrew Johnson was impeached because he fired someone in his cabinet and congress saw this as a means to stall reconstruction. The story goes that Johnson fired this cabinet member because he was disloyal, and post-civil war congress saw this as a way to pursue the national union's agenda. The U.S. congress thus passed an act tailored specifically to Johnson known as the office act of 1867. The office act banned the President from removing someone within their cabinet “without senatorial consent.” Congress then used this act to impeach Johnson. If Andrew Johnson’s impeachment made it to senate trials, our impeachment laws would have become politically dangerous. Article two could have ended up being used as a means for Congress to remove those they have opposing views with. The office act of 1867 was found unconstitutional by the supreme court in 1926. Andrew Johnson is still Impeached though.
Could this change Impeachment in our country?
Congress has a week to impeach the President, and there is even talk on the internet that he can be impeached after the inauguration. If Congress can impeach Orangina man prior to January 20th, I will never doubt their power again. There is a way to fast track the court hearing, and Congress is pursuing that route. As far as the talk surrounding impeachment past his presidential term, I do not see how that is constitutional. Congress is impeaching him on the grounds that he will cause violence and harm the public interest. I don’t see how Congress could obtain the right to Impeach on their presented grounds when he is no longer in office and no longer a threat.
Congress asked Vice president Pence to invoke the 25th and when he said no they decided to take it to the house. The house of representatives voted last night to “call on pence” to invoke the 25th. Essentially, the house of representatives voted to tell the vice president what to do. I think they forgot the Vice President’s term is also ending, and therefore it might be hard to coerce him. The Republican party is also in opposition to telling Mike Pence what to do. There was only one Republican representative that voted in favor. The Republican party is by no means on Trump’s side in all of this however, they also don’t see the need to Impeach. Nancy Pelosi appears to be adamant about removing trump, even if it’s his very last days. The chances that President Trump will be impeached for a second time seems unlikely. However, should congress succeed, would they be able to remove a president on grounds other than public interest? Is there another reason behind the need to impeach Trump this late? This is just a little food for thought while you wait for the outcome.
Sources:
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/section-3/
