Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/04/05/you-dont-have-the-votes.html
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I have a bit more hope that as 45 becomes a greater, and greater liability for the GOP (this should become super obvious by the time the mid-terms are done), they’ll find some minor discretion to blow up into an impeachable offense. I suspect Congressional GOPers would be much happier with a President Pence, anyway. He’s a dick, but he’s their dick.
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Senators don’t impeach. He CAN be impeached (which happens in the House) after the midterms if the Dems take back control. After he is impeached (which just means that formal charges have been brought) he is TRIED in the Senate. I believe it takes 67 Senate votes (n0t 75) to then remove him from office. Also a very tall order, and it does seem highly unlikely to happen. But, you should change your headline to be more accurate.
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That’s right. The house impeaches a president with a simple majority vote. The senate convicts the president with a two-thirds vote. This is how Clinton could be impeached but not convicted.
The only mention in the Constitution of a three-fourths majority is the number of states that must ratify an amendment.
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Well, this is a Cory political post. Accuracy is accidental, if that.
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Pretty sure you’re right.
I was reading yesterday that Muller’s end game isn’t an indictment, because he can’t indict a sitting President. All he can do is gather an ironclad set of evidence, refer it to the Congress, and watch them ignore it and blame Pelosi.
It would be ideal if this could happen around October 15, but Muller is really apolitical, and would surely wait until after the election.
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Conceivably, what comes out of the Mueller investigation could make it much less attractive for republican elected officials to stand by Trump. Trump will always have a core of support, but it’s not a really huge percentage of the electorate.
As soon as standing up against Trump does more for a senator’s reelection than standing with Trump, it’s not necessarily going to be a straight party-line vote
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Ugh.
50%+1 of the house to impeach. 2/3 of the senate to remove from office.
25th amendment process additionally requires a majority of cabinet members, and 2/3 of the house rather than just a majority.
So impeachment absolutely could happen, but removal from office seems unlikely given the modern republican party, and the slate of senators up for election this year.
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Let’s remember that a lot of the Republican politicians don’t like Trump and didn’t want him. When he won, first the primary and then the election, they rushed to support him, and have mostly continued to do so. But for the most part, I don’t think there’s any real loyalty to Trump; he’s an outsider who upset things and basically stole the GOP’s voter base from them. If the general national mood turns seriously against Trump, I wouldn’t be surprised if the same Republicans who have been hanging onto him will suddenly turn around and stab him in the back at the first opportunity.
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Then the real question should be what would it take for the republicans on capitol hill to consider removing Trump from office?
Yes placing more democrats in the house & senate could help move the needle towards impeachment, but the GOP still has to see the political value of doing something like that. Rural conservatives seem to be enjoying the abusive relationship Trump has with them at the moment. But it could easily sour if his actions threaten farming economies with the whole crackdown on migrant farm workers from Mexico & Haiti, if the tariff war ruins the US soybean market and if he further rolls back clean air & energy efforts past the Obama admin’s efforts and starts attacking the Bush admin’s corn ethanol being put into the country’s gasoline supply program.
Plus, the conservatives still like Pence. If they do decide to remove Trump before the end of the second year he’s in office, they’d be limiting how many presidential terms Pence can run from 2 to a single one (remember that 10 year limit on how long someone can serve as president?). If they kick out Trump before the end of that second year there could be an even larger revolt in the party because of it. But on the other hand, liberals might see that as an excellent opportunity and try to kick out Trump as soon as possible to also kneecap Pence too lmao
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Two Presidents have been impeached (Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton).
Zero Presidents have been removed from office by the subsequent trial in the Senate.
One President resigned rather than be impeached (Nixon)
The best, safest, most reliable way to remove a bad President from office is the next regularly scheduled election.
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Cory doesn’t know what he’s talking aboot. All Parliament has to do is schedule a vote of no confidence, eh?
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Trump will never, ever be impeached
Trump won’t be impeached, ever, ever, ever
OK, got it: never ever; ever, ever, ever.
But, will he ever be impeached? Will he ever ever be impeached? Ever, ever, ever, ever be impeached?
Cory left a lot of wiggle room there.
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I’m not so sure. I think Trump’s antics and back and forth are a good way to obfuscate any regressive policies they actually end up passing. Reality, and what’s appropriate for the governance of the country, has already been made fairly hazy.
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While Cory doesn’t really have his facts correct on impeachment, I think he’s also right – removal from office via impeachment is designed to be extraordinarily difficult. I think it’s far more likely that he’ll be tried for a federal crime before then.
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"Trump will never, ever be impeached"
There’s no place like home,
There’s no place like home,
There’s no place like home
DAMMIT! it’s not working.
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I wonder what @beschizza would have made of it.
Something colourful, I presume.
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“Trump will never be impeached.”
Not with that attitude he won’t.
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