Since 2016, the American Left has screamed at the top of their lungs that Donald Trump is the biggest threat to democracy, and the Constitution, that this country has ever seen.
So serious is this threat that we have to try to remove Trump from the ballot (because they're defending democracy by limiting who you can vote for), or hamstring him with malicious lawfare. But this entire time -- for as long as I can remember -- the Left has treated the Constitution with scorn and derision.
Amendments, explicitly written, were open for interpretation. The Second Amendment, for example, has to be 'revisited' because the Founders never could have imagined this technology, the Left will argue. The Founders never could have envisioned a world where I am writing this column from my car, while livestreaming a podcast, on a device called a laptop. They knew only ink and quills and printing presses. Does that mean the First Amendment doesn't protect me in this medium?
But I digress.
I suppose, for the sake of argument, we can acknowledge there is some room for debate in what certain Amendments mean. Fine.
Recommended
However, when it comes to the issue of impeachment, the Constitution is clear, and explicitly so.
To wit: information on the Constitutional framework for impeachment, taken from the U.S. Senate webpage itself:
The United States Constitution provides that the House of Representatives "shall have the sole Power of Impeachment" (Article I, section 2) and "the Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments … [but] no person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present" (Article I, section 3)
Let's repeat Article 1, section 3 again for those who missed it:
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.
The Senate is constitutionally obligated to try Impeachments.
So when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer put forth motions to dismiss the impeachment charges against DHS Secretary Mayorkas without holding a trial, and the vote passed the Senate, he -- and the Democrats who voted for it -- spat in the face of 227 years of congressional history and said the Constitution doesn't matter.
While the Left said anything Trump did was a 'constitutional crisis', because Orange Man Bad, THIS is an actual Constitutional crisis.
Schumer and the Senate Democrats have abdicated their Constitutional responsibility, their legal obligation, by refusing to hold a trial for the articles of impeachment as they are required to do.
Schumer Upsets 227 Years of Congressional History to Spare Biden From Border Crisis Accountability https://t.co/Kj6MPXe72n
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) April 17, 2024
There was zero reason -- none -- to do this. It doesn't matter if the Senate Dems did this to protect Mayorkas or Biden. That wasn't their call. The House put forth articles of impeachment; the Senate was obligated to hold a trial.
They put Trump back on trial for impeachment after he wasn't the sitting president. And it's adorable Schumer has the nerve to say impeachment isn't used for 'policy disagreements' -- he clearly hasn't read a history book.
(Also, laying down the marker now: Trump wins in November, and he will be on trial for impeachment January 8th, 2025. Mark my words, and then remember how Schumer said impeachment isn't political)
They could have held the trial and voted to acquit. There would have been debate on whether or not acquittal was the right move, but it would have been the Constitutional play.
And the worst part of it? Where is the GOP?
Aside from a few angry tweets and some TV spots, they are absent.
If I were a senator, I would not only be taking this to the Supreme Court, I would be putting forth resolutions to expel every Democrat member of the Senate immediately, and keep doing so until Republicans regain control of the body and can expel them.
Since we don't teach the Constitution in school anymore, and since the people who our tax dollars pay lots of money to in order to 'uphold and defend' the Constitution don't seem to understand or care what it says, few people will realize how serious this is.
We've crossed the Rubicon.
What other Senate rules will be ignored now? Rules on treaties? Rules on confirming cabinet or judicial appointments?
Now, Schumer and colleagues would do well to remember: the other side gets to move and shoot too. He's now set the precedent that the Constitution means nothing, and the rules are whatever serves their political agenda best.
This is a dangerous, dangerous thing. An actual Constitutional crisis.
There is no end to what will and won't be ignored, and the damage done to this nation will be irreparable.
And not one person in the Senate -- Democrat or Republican -- seems to care. At all.
