The list of Trump’s solecisms is considerable: liar, bully, incompetent, etc etc. And they have one of their own - Pence - in the wings. Removing Trump now will give Pence three years to correct the damage Trump has done. So why haven’t the Republicans got rid of him? They control the Senate and the House, so removing him by impeachment should be trivial. Indeed, they could save everyone’s face and present Trump with a fait accompli and Trump could stand down citing medical reasons.
Aside from that, how are Republicans supposed to get rid of Trump? Impeach him for high crimes and misdemeanors, on the basis of a whole lot of smoke but no smoking gun?
As I understand it, an impeachment and removal can be a complete sham anyway. The senate makes its own rules for the trial, and then votes as the jury. The house could impeach based on some completely bogus charge, and then the senate could convict based on whatever bogus evidence they choose to hear. It’s not like Trump would have any recourse.
The only question is if what we’ve learned about the firing so far (Trump’s public statements, internal memos, Comey’s testimony) would provide enough political cover.
It would not surprise me at all if other Republicans ended up quietly persuading Trump behind the scenes to resign for “health reasons,” but Trump needs to be given a reason to play along, and the only reason that’s going to work on him is a credible threat of financial ruin and / or jail. We’re not at that point yet, although we might plausibly get there.
Impeachment initiated by his own party isn’t going to happen. Impeachment initiated by Democrats and eventually supported by some Republicans in the Senate is also very unlikely, but MIGHT conceivably happen if the 2018 midterms are such a disaster for Republicans that it becomes obvious that Trump is a massive liability for the entire party. Right now, that is not obvious. Most Republicans support him, and Democrats have yet to flip any legislative seats at the national level, even though there are some ominous signs for Republicans if you pay attention to things like state legislative special elections, and especially if you drill down to the actual margins of victory.
Because most Republicans in both houses of Congress want to be re-elected in the next election. Do you think impeaching Trump will help or hurt them in that endeavor? I’ll give you a little hint: Trump’s approval rating among Republicans is > 80%. Who is going to win in a primary: The guy who impeached a popular president or the guy who says he would not have done so?
Remember that Trump defeated something like sixteen establishment Republicans to win the presidential nomination. Republican voters have spoken as clearly as they can.
If I recall correctly, the OP is British and may be thinking about government in more parliamentary terms. Over here, though, attempting to remove Trump would be seen as a coup.
They think that once he has managed to consolidate power, that he will share it with the people who supported him to get there.
They are wrong, they are pawns who will be discarded as soon as their usefulness is over, but until then, they keep on supporting the erosion of the values this country was founded upon in the belief that they will personally benefit in the new regime.
The conservative supporters of trump in congress are greedy cowards, so greedy that they are willing to harm not just other people, but allow themselves to be harmed in the future for a little bit of bling now, and so cowardly that they cannot even think of the prospect of standing up against an encroaching fascism, to do so would be “highly inappropriate”.
Mccain and Flake, greedy as they are, at least have thrown off the shackles of cowardice. McCain because he’s dying, and Flake because he has nothing else to lose. Corker too.
Until the conservatives in congress decide to care more about their country than their gain, they will continue to support trump, not matter how egregious his behavior is.
Yeah, but who wants to be the first to approach this loose cannon blabber mouth? Can you imagine the Tweet? “J Cornyn, polling very badly by the way, asked me in a secret meeting if i would step down for ‘health reasons.’ Not going to happen! #MAGA”
I doubt if that would do it. And anyway, that doesn’t seem likely either. The Trump base will not be swayed by anything Mueller comes up with, if they even know who he is. And it’s all about the votes. Nothing can stop Trump or bring him down.
The most likely path of forced removal from office is by the cabinet voting him out per the 25th Amendment. No amount of scandal would motivate them to do this in my view. Barring serious illness, I don’t see this happening.
The far majority of GOPers on Capitol Hill are certainly not going to support impeachment. There are two main Republican factions in Congress:
Approximately 40 Republicans in The House and approximately 10 Rs in The Senate are Trump cheerleaders who are enjoying every minute of this horrorshow. Most likely, no amount of scandal would deter them. This is the group that doesn’t want to do so.
The rest of the House Rs and ~37 Senators are generally supportive of most or all of the Trump policy agenda but have qualms about his erratic behavior and only discuss concerns behind the scenes, if at all, and off the record for fear of losing in the next primary election. They do not speak a word of criticism in public although some express their desire to see more focus on policy and less on Twitter (or similar concerns) with careful word-smithing. This is the more establishment-leaning group that voted for Paul Ryan to become Speaker of the House. As long as Trump popularity among Republican primary voters remains high, this faction will not consider impeach regardless of scandals and emoluments. As long as the economy is good, the current level of popularity will likely remain. My impression is that they secretly would prefer Pence.
In addition to those factions, there are a few moderate outliers (Senators McCain, Corker, Murkowski, Collins) and the libertarian leaning Senator Paul.
Call him in to a hearing and put him under oath. This is Trump. If he’s asked questions, he answers with lies. And not well-crafted lies. So you’ve got him for lying under oath. That’s perjury and obstruction of justice.
It is completely accurate that a decision by Congress to impeach and convict is not subject to judicial review, but the Constitution is very clear that impeachment for executive branch officers is for high crimes and misdemeanors. This contrasts with the standard in the Constitution for removal of judicial officers, which is “good behavior.”
Gerald Ford, who used the famous phrase “an impeachable offense is whatever Congress says it is,” said that during the debate on a removal of a Federal judge on the basis that the phrase “good behavior” is very vague, and Ford contrasted that vague standard with the higher standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. People who use Ford’s words virtually always ignore the context of his remarks.