Like all things in government, presidential impeachment does not happen overnight. There are several steps that must be taken, and for those who are anxious to see President Trump ousted from office, jumpstarting the process of impeachment is of great interest. Since Congress is where the process of impeachment must begin, officials from multiple U.S. cities are taking it upon themselves to try and get the ball rolling.
How are they doing this? According to Politico , local governing bodies are working to put pressure on Congress to start the impeachment process by ratifying propositions for Trump impeachment. The purpose of this course of action is to pressure state Congress representatives to do what’s in their power to jumpstart presidential impeachment.
City governments are not involved in the process of impeaching a U.S. president, but that doesn’t mean they can’t put pressure on those who are involved. By passing these proposals, they are simply doing what is in their power to possibly lead to a Donald Trump impeachment. If a state’s congressmen feel pressured enough, they can start an official investigation into whether or not the filing of articles of impeachment is justifiable.
“If Congress concludes they [impeachment articles] are [justifiable], the articles of impeachment are drafted and voted on by the House. A simple majority vote in the House sends the articles to the Senate, which holds a trial and needs two-thirds agreement to convict.”
The Massachusetts communities of Brookline, Cambridge, Amherst, Pelham, and Leverett have ratified Trump impeachment resolutions, and the town of Newton currently has one in the works.
Los Angeles, Richmond, Alameda, and Berkeley have all done their part in pressuring California congressmen to go forward with the impeachment process.
Unsurprisingly, all the cities that have passed motions are located in states that Hillary Clinton won during the 2016 election.
Motivations behind the submissions of these proposals, as well as the calls by city officials for impeachment, are reported to be largely political. In Illinois, three Democrats running for governor, Alderman Ameya Pawar, J.B. Pritzker, and Daniel Biss , have made their desires for President Trump’s impeachment public. Pawar authored a successful proposition, Pritzker tweeted in mid-May, “I’m calling on the House of Representatives to begin the impeachment process against @realDonaldTrump,” and Biss also took to Twitter to call for the ball to get rolling on the president’s impeachment.
In addition to city governments, Congress is also being pressured by left-wing organizations to start the impeachment process. Impeach Trump Now is one such group, and on the homepage of their website, there’s a petition for visitors who want Trump impeached to sign. At the time of this writing, 1.1 million signatures had been collected.
“We are calling upon Congress to pass a resolution calling for the House Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the impeachment of Donald John Trump, President of the United States.”
Impeach Trump Now cites “the president’s choice to profit from the presidency at public expense” and “the president’s apparent interference with a criminal investigation by firing FBI Director James Comey” as the two main reasons they’re in favor of Trump’s time in office coming to an end.
Impeach Trump Now’s website, under the menu header “Take Action,” suggests for city governments to do their part in encouraging a start to the impeachment process. They say local action, like the kind taken in Massachusetts and California, can create awareness among Americans and the politicians who serve them.
The level of support for Trump’s impeachment is matched somewhat by its opposition, as some politicians, both Republican and Democrat, believe it’s not warranted — at least yet. Representatives of both parties in Washington have expressed their disapproval of starting the impeachment process. Some believe the special investigation that was just launched in regard to Trump and Russia suffices for now, and if anything is found from that, perhaps talk of impeachment will become appropriate.
What are your thoughts on a President Trump impeachment?
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