Apr.13

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Democrats Can't Convince Their Base to Stop Demanding the Impossible

Many Democrats are loudly demanding that their leaders impeach Donald Trump or at least invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. This is causing a lot of trouble for the leaders of the blue team. The problem, which is obvious to them but apparently not to the rank-and-file Democrats demanding action, is that Democrats are in the minority in the House so they would need Republican votes to impeach Trump, and even for Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Nancy Mace (R-SC), that is probably several bridges too far. Besides, even if the votes were there, when the articles of impeachment came over to the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) would either hold a vote as soon as they came over, which would lead to acquittal along party lines, or just not hold a vote at all.

As to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, that is up to the vice president and the Cabinet. Congress plays no role in initiating the process. If the vice president and the Cabinet were to start the process and Trump objected, it takes a two-thirds majority in each chamber to remove a president. To many Democratic voters, these are just minor details about parliamentary procedure, which don't interest them. They just want Democrats to remove Trump, which they have no power to do.

Of course, using "we have no power" as the excuse will end abruptly on Jan. 3, 2027, if the Democrats get 218 or more seats in the House. Then the base will be demanding impeachment by Jan. 4. If the leaders are smart, they are already working on the first set of articles now, so if the time comes, they have carefully written articles ready to file. There is a lot of material to work with, but the real audience should be the public, not the Republican senators. Articles need to list things ordinary Americans understand, like this:

• Article 1: He went to war in Iran without any authorization from Congress.
• Article 2: He abused his powers by using the Department of Justice to prosecute his political rivals.
• Article 3: He has instructed federal law enforcement agencies to detain and deport people without due process.
• Article 4: He has wildly abused the pardon power by giving pardons to cronies and selling pardons to others.
• Article 5: He has violated both the domestic and foreign emolument clauses by accepting illegal gifts.

So what's a Democratic leader to do? Jeffries has spent the past few weeks vigorously condemning Trump for waging an illegal and unnecessary war. He has also talked about impeaching Cabinet officials, especially Secretary of Defense War Pete Hegseth. Given how badly the war is going, some Republicans might be willing to impeach Hegseth as a scapegoat to spare Trump and put the blame elsewhere.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Trump's official physician, Sean Barbabella, asking for him to make a full cognitive assessment of Trump and make the results public. However, other Democrats, like Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA), have said that if Democrats take Congress their focus should be on passing bills that lower costs for Americans.

Other than these sporadic actions, there is not a lot the minority can do other than to try to explain the situation to the base and promise to take action if they get the power. But those promises had better be realistic, as in: "If we get a majority in the House, we will impeach Trump, but remember, we will need over a dozen Republican senators to vote for a conviction." (V)