What’s the Holdup?

After the President’s unrepentant comments this morning and the Republican Party’s rapid return to baseline–witness Lindsey “Count Me Out” Graham accompanying Trump on his border visit–the correct course seems clear: Impeach this afternoon and send the article or articles to the Senate this afternoon. The purpose of the 25th Amendment gambit in the interim remains unclear, and it suggests Congress would prefer to outsource its responsibilities to the vice president. Any delay in sending the article(s) to the Senate would suggest political maneuvering. More important, it would suggest subservience of House Democrats to President-Elect Biden’s wishes. An immediate impeachment and … Continue reading What’s the Holdup?

Impeachment Beats the Alternatives

Congress seems split, mostly but not entirely on partisan lines, between two alternatives: removing Donald Trump immediately or getting the nation across the January 20 finish line on a wing and a prayer. The problem is that the wing and prayer are also predicated on bad precedents. The most ominous of these was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s call to General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about, in her words, “preventing an unhinged president from using the nuclear codes.” That kind of interference from Congress in the military chain of command is a dicey precedent. These are, … Continue reading Impeachment Beats the Alternatives

Resignations and the 25th Amendment

The Boston Globe had a story this morning suggesting that some of these recent cabinet-level resignations were motivated by a desire either to avoid invoking the 25th Amendment or to avoid voting on it if invoked. First of all, the 25th Amendment is simply not the proper way of removing this President. It exists so as to provide a constitutional process by which to remove a President who’s become mentally incapacitated, i.e. by a stroke or something like that. Although I think Trump committed a criminal act by inciting a crowd to riot, that is not proof of his mental … Continue reading Resignations and the 25th Amendment