Thursday, May 18, 2023

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Impeachment Claims Against Biden are Bogus

 Let's talk about Marjorie Taylor Greene's planned articles of impeachment for Joe Biden.

Greene announced her intention to file articles of impeachment against Biden on Thursday, saying her reason for doing so -- which, will go nowhere, given that the slim GOP majority in the House, let alone the Dem majority in the Senate, won't advance it -- is that he's been bad at securing the border, and hence, has failed to live up to the oath of his office.

A few things here...

A) The oath the president takes, stipulated by the Constitution, is as follows:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

To prove that Biden violated that pledge requires Greene to provide evidence that he didn't protect the U.S. on purpose. Even if he failed to protect the border, that's not really grounds for impeachment, especially on the basis that his actions violated his presidential oath. Failure to do something doesn't mean you didn't try to faithfully live up to the duties you're entrusted with.

For what it's worth, Biden's border policies are equal to, if not, WORSE than, Trump's, in terms of how they treat migrants with dignity. Greene frequently states that she believes Trump did a better job than Biden on border and immigration matters, but Title 42 (under Trump) and Biden's new immigration policies are very similar. So how, exactly, does she want Biden to lead on the issue?

Regardless of that, being upset with someone over a policy they enact, believing that they're doing it wrong, is not an acceptable reason to impeach someone. Which brings us to the next point...

B) Presidents can be impeached for a limited (but also kinda vague?) number of reasons. 

The Constitution states that they can be removed from office for issues relating to "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

Republicans defended Trump against his two impeachments by saying he didn't commit any "high crimes and misdemeanors." That term, however, when it was adopted by the founders more than two centuries ago, wasn't meant to be literal -- it meant, in a general sense, an abuse of power by someone in the executive branch. 

Now, suddenly, Greene and others of the same mind as her are perfectly fine with the broad-based interpretation of that standard.

What constitutes an abuse of power is left pretty vague. But again, Greene isn't alleging an abuse of power -- she's saying that Biden is acting in a way, as president, that she disagrees with. 

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Greene's impeachment plans shouldn't be taken seriously. Hell, she's already laid out four articles of impeachment against executive branch officials this week alone, not even counting the one she's planning to do for Biden. She is, in short, seeking to use Congress's impeachment powers for her own political gains. 

The White House has called Greene's planned impeachment filings a "stunt." They're exactly right.


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