Kate Bailey ’21
It’s official: the House of Representatives will conduct a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump P ’00 following a whistleblower report alleging that Trump unlawfully attempted to investigate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Announced two weeks ago, this move, could very plausibly lead to the impeachment of the president sometime during the next several months. I’m not a Trump supporter — quite the opposite, actually — but, to me, now isn’t the right time for an action against the president as drastic as impeachment. Rather than being a moral, patriotic check on the president’s inside dealings, impeachment is a high-risk wild goose chase with more pomp than substance — one that’s destined to hurt the Democrats in the long run.
The frenzy on Capitol Hill surrounding impeachment hearings is, quite frankly, a waste of time and energy; it’s only further deepening the party divide and distracting members from opportunities for bipartisanship. In 1997, when President Bill Clinton was undergoing impeachment procedures, it took four months and countless hours of debate for the House to make a decision on the matter. Considering the contention surrounding the allegations against Trump, the upcoming proceedings could very well take longer. Instead of focusing on bipartisan measures surrounding issues like gun control or healthcare that could have productive change for everyday citizens, over the next few months, Congress will spend hours in drawn-out hearings on an issue that is almost completely divided by the party line in its very nature. In other words, though advocates for impeachment claim to defend our nation’s overarching morals, they’re really only bringing us further apart.
Also, whether or not you think Trump should be removed from office, it’s essential to consider whether or not he can be removed from office. After “impeachment” in the House (which, with Democrats in the majority, seems likely), the president in question must also be convicted by the Senate with a two-thirds supermajority — in Trump’s situation, this appears unlikely, since the Senate is currently controlled by Republicans.
So, if Trump’s not actually going to be removed from office, why bother? The answer for many, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, is symbolism: the image of Democrats rising above day-to-day politics to defend the Constitution’s moral values. But I’m a skeptic. I fear that this symbolism, if Congress ultimately fails to convict Trump, will be turned on its head by the president and his cronies as a way to galvanize support from their party. In addition to having a new way to ridicule the Democrats, Trump will be able to push his supporters even further to the right out of anger and pride; this polarization will undoubtedly be devastating in the 2020 elections — one that, as ever, will be determined by swing voters.
To be clear, I’m not saying that Trump hasn’t done anything wrong — interfering in a domestic election with the help of a foreign power is a textbook case of corruption. But what I know for sure is that procedurally and socially, impeachment proceedings will never achieve what the Democrats want them to. To truly defend our Constitutional values, we must look below the lofty, unachievable ideal of impeachment and pay attention to the partisan, unforgiving reality of our political system. Yes, impeachment may be a fun, exciting buzzword to throw around on social media, but in the harsh world of Congress, these proceedings are destined to not only fail, but to come back to bite the Democratic cause.
Wesley Boatwright ’22
“I would like you to do us a favor,” President Donald J. Trump P ’00 said on July 25 while on the phone with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The favor Trump was asking for was to dig up dirt on the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic challenger in the 2020 election. Asking a foreign government to investigate a political rival is clearly an impeachable offense, and the conduct only gets worse.
Trump also heavily implied that United States’ aid to Ukraine was dependent on this investigation. A week before this phone call with Zelensky, Trump personally withheld $400 million in military support from Ukraine. So, it makes sense that President Zelensky brought up American aid in their phone call. Trump replied with a request for “a favor.” This kind of quid pro quo is clearly defined in the Constitution as presidential misconduct. Congress must declare that the president isn’t above the law, and that the executive branch is beholden to the checks and balances outlined by the Founding Fathers. The only acceptable response? Impeachment.
The value of impeaching Trump is demonstrating that a sitting president can’t abuse his presidential power to be reelected. Allowing such behavior sets a dangerous precedent and emboldens Trump to continue pressuring foreign governments into investigating his political enemies. This isn’t a new tactic from Trump; during the 2016 election, Trump invited Russia to spy on his opponent, Hillary Clinton. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily.” As it turned out, that very day, Russia hacked into Clinton’s campaign in search of the emails.
No president should actively seek the help of a foreign country in our election process. Nothing short of the viability of our democracy hangs in the balance.
There will likely be consequences for impeaching Trump. It will surely energize his base — as Trump is an expert spin doctor, able to deftly misinform his supporters to maintain their trust. Already, the Twitter-in-Chief has proclaimed the impeachment inquiry a “witch hunt,” and his call with Zelensky nothing short of “perfect.” Fox and friends have snatched up the talking points.
But I encourage Democrats to think beyond politics. No president should be able to do as he or she pleases, federal laws, the integrity America’s electoral process, and the health of our democracy be damned. It is incumbent upon the Democratic House leadership to ensure that the impeachment investigation is not a charade meant only to placate a base desperate for Trump to be removed from the Oval Office.
This process will not be pretty, and Republicans will do everything they can to change the narrative. The House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, must hold strong and see this through. They have a chance to do the country a great favor.
