Speaker Nancy Pelosi, head of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives, recently launched an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. He was charged with betraying his oath of office, as well as trying to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son to tarnish their reputations for his own personal gain. He has five accusations against him, including obstruction of justice and violation of the foreign emoluments clause.
All but eight Democrats have announced their support for this decision, but not a single Republican has pledged their support, many instead claiming that the inquiry is a witch hunt. These comments are representative of the Republican party as a whole, and as of now, only one has publicly said they supported the inquiry.
By proclaiming their opposition to the inquiry, let alone impeachment itself, the Republicans are showing their complete support for the President. They refuse to see him as a subject of the law, not just saying he’s innocent of committing crimes, but that he can’t be punished for them anyways. Just recently, they stormed a secure room bringing unauthorized devices (cell phones) with them, and consequently jeopardized the security of the room. This action delayed the hearing taking place by five hours as the room was swept for bugs. This action shows their unwavering allegiance to the President, and as a bonus, delayed an important investigation that could be bad for them and their careers.
So far, we know that Trump called the Ukranian president-elect, Volodymyr Zelensky, to congratulate him, but also to ask him to investigate issues of “corruption,” regarding former Vice President Biden. This blatant abuse of power would usually be enough to bring serious consequences down on a president, but such usage has become the norm throughout the past almost three years of his presidency.
Later, in June, Trump replied in an interview that he would accept damaging information on political rivals from a foreign government, which in itself is illegal. By saying this, he basically handed out a reason for the Democrats to, at the very least, try to impeach him on.In mid-July, Trump then instructed the acting chief of staff to hold back nearly $400 million of aid from Ukraine, without publicly announcing the action or giving a reason. Soon after this, Trump spoke with Ukranian President Zelensky, and asked for a favor, suggesting that the Ukranian president work with Attorney-General Barr and his personal lawyer, Giuliani.
All of this is already more than enough proof to bring an inquiry into the president, and Speaker Pelosi soon began speaking with House committees to begin the impeachment process.
By September, Trump acknowledged that he had accused Vice President Biden of corruption during a phone call with the Ukranian leader. This confession pushed many Democrats from a position of uncertainty, as it gave pretty much concrete proof of an impeachable offense. Two days later, the impeachment inquiry was opened.
For Democrats, this is a major opportunity to get the president out of office, but even if they manage to impeach him in the House, it still has to make it through the Senate. Unfortunately, the Senate is currently controlled by a Republican majority that would most likely block the impeachment, based on their past decisions regarding the Trump administration. For the sake of argument, let’s say the Senate does actually convict the president, and he is removed from office. Vice President Pence would be put into office, or in the occasion that Vice President Pence cannot be put into power, Speaker Pelosi would become the President until the next election.
In terms of politics, there are advantages and disadvantages to the impeachment inquiry for both. For the Republican party, the major disadvantage is fairly obvious: the current Republican president would no longer be in office. For some, this may come as an advantage though, as Vice President Mike Pence would then be in power, and some consider him to be more competent than Trump.
Democrats might gain a political advantage from impeaching Trump, but this would not change the balance of power in Congress. Since this would only end close to the 2020 elections, there is a possibility that he’ll leave office at about the same time or it might sway the elections.
Both parties are treading carefully in the present climate; both on damage control, trying to keep what little stability we still have.
Well done Peyton!