I have been giving impeachment some certain concentrated thought of late. In particular the proposed impeachment of the current U.S. President, Donald J. Trump. I would say that I did not favor it up until quite recently. You see, I was (and still am) concerned about creating support for the president, as it appeared to have brought support for President Bill Clinton when he was impeached in 1998. After all, what I felt was most important was keeping Trump from a second term as president. My view has changed, and I now support beginning impeachment.
I support impeachment now regardless of the outcome in the 2020 election, but not without consideration of the political consequences.
What it is:
Impeachment is the process for bringing charges against a government official. It is similar to an indictment that a grand jury would bring. In the United States the legislative branch can impeach any civil officer. Our Constitution offers charges of treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors as causes for impeachment. That last category leaves open some latitude for Congress to impeach where specific crimes may not have occurred, but where detriment to the country is evident.
The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the sole responsibility to impeach, and it gives the Senate the responsibility to try the case should the House vote to impeach. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would preside over such a trial.
Causes for impeachment:
I feel that it could be fairly argued that personal enrichment that President Trump has gained from foreign governments has lead the President to support policies and weapons sales to those governments, and could well be considered bribery.
I feel that the President’s encouragement of a foreign power to infiltrate a political adversaries information to benefit his election, and his rejection of and efforts to limit our government in efforts to combat foreign influence in our national elections could well be considered treason for the purposes of impeachment.
I feel it is clear that perjury of oath, abuse of authority, intimidation, misuse of assets, failure to supervise, dereliction of duty, unbecoming conduct and other actions, all of which fall under the definition of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” give Congress not only the authority to impeach, but the duty to impeach.
Donald Trump has displayed poor character. He has cheated in his personal life, his business life, and political life. He has demonstrated that he is a liar, a racist, a misogynist, and a bully. Those traits should disqualify him of being president. I say should because we as a people should not endorse or put into office such a figure. But this is a political choice. If the correct political majority cast their ballots in that manner, then that is what we get, whether we should or not. As detestable as he is, and as much as he may diminish our standing in the world we are free to have whomever we elect in that office.
It is his actions to diminish the coequal power of the other branches of government, and his attempts to move the country towards an authoritarian dictatorship of supreme executive power that persuade me that impeachment is necessary. It is his use of government departments as tools of his individual whim that convince me that impeachment is necessary.
His isolationism and animosity towards the longstanding alliances with other democracies in favor of supporting dictators endanger the planet and make large-scale warfare more likely.
His antagonistic attitude toward multinational institutions that have served well in keeping majors powers at peace with each other, and which promote the improvement of the of life for all people make his impeachment necessary.
For these and other reasons his continued holding of the office makes this country and the rest of the world less safe, and puts at risk our democratic government and the future of the Republic.
These latter are the reasons he should be impeached, and the former are the justifications for it.
The consequences:
The outcome of impeachment by the House is predictable. A fairly narrow vote to impeach there will be followed by a failure to convict in the Senate.
This may have negative political consequences in the 2020 election, although I don’t think that is the case, but not impeaching will have even greater political consequences in elections that follow. A Trump victory in the 2020 election will spell disaster for our national institutions, particularly if no impeachment takes place. In considering worst scenarios I see increasing executive authority, including the presidential use of government departments and agencies for personal gain and as weapons against political enemies, increased use of police power against the citizenry, dramatic changes to voting laws, severe restrictions on immigration, and the disenfranchisement of minorities. And all done to consolidate and increase the power of the executive in the person of Donald Trump.
However, an impeached President, whether convicted or not, would more likely be checked in his abuse of authority. To not impeach is a tacit acceptance of his actions, and an invitation to take additional steps in that direction. Going on the record now, with the act of impeachment, is the best defense against increased authoritarianism. It draws a line that is needed but not yet marked.
Further, I speculate the very act of impeachment will turn voters against Trump and those who support him, and may cause a swing in the Senate to Democratic control as well as an increase in the House majority. Many Americans do not follow closely the political moves that take place. The details pass them and vanish into obscurity. Trump has a political base that will support him in virtually any scenario, impeachment will not change their minds or their vote. But I am surprised how often I meet someone who ins’t in his camp, but might vote for him anyway because the economy is good, or their general feeling of concern over the bogeymen of socialism or the changing demographics of our country. They don’t really know or care about most of the political back and forth, and accept it as normal for parties to disagree. And they don’t see the actions he is taking at all, much less relating them to principles of government. Frankly and sadly, there are many millions of Americans who just don’t understand how government works at all. They go into the voting booth and decide on feeling. Who do they feel good about. Should the House pursue impeachment it would be a flash in their eyes and support for him would wane. They would feel less good about a president being impeached. A fully Democratic Congress would be the best check against Trump should be gain a second term.
But reminding the people that such actions as this president has taken should not be allowed may increase voter participation, and encourage the voters in coming elections to stand up to the bully whomever it may be.
And when we make comparisons to Bill Clinton the content of the actions are what matter. The charges against Clinton were serious, but the background actions were having an affair and hiding it. People can be forgiving about that. The background actions for Trump are much more consequential. And when people see the self-serving nature behind those actions their response will be different.
But lastly, a decision not to pursue impeachment on unfavorable political grounds is acknowledging that his actions are acceptable. To leave impeachment off the table because of potential votes is to justify it and push the decision of that behavior into the hands of the citizens directly. And these citizens are not fully engaged and they take their lead, to some degree, by what political leaders say. Tell them them to decide if they want to keep Trump without first impeaching him, is to tell them that his actions are acceptable. We do not have direct democracy, we have representative democracy. The representatives need to lead the people by establishing what is not acceptable actions for the Executive. Reasserting power of the people’s representatives is what we must do, even if Trump wins a second term because of it; especially if he wins a second term.
To make this a political choice for the voters leaves open the door to ever increasing abuses of power in the coming years. It modifies the office to become whatever you want if you have to votes to be there. During the campaign in 2016, Trump joked that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York and not lose his voters. But if he did, would we let the voters decide if he should go to jail? No, because shooting someone is a crime regardless of your popularity. And crimes in office should not be left up to the voters to judge either. Our Constitution places the responsibility in the offices of Congress. Congress should act.