Will “Cocaine Mitch” get the last laugh?
With Democrats holding a vote to impeach President Trump on Wednesday, the president’s odds of surviving unscathed from another attempt to unseat him appear to have gotten slimmer due to reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is “pleased” with the impeachment motions and is even willing to convict, seeing this as an opportunity to purge the Republican Party of Donald Trump for good.
Sources claiming to be associates of McConnell told The New York Times that he believes the president committed impeachable offenses by calling on his supporters to hold an election fraud-related rally in Washington, D.C., that ultimately ended in the storming of the Capitol Building by a small number of rallygoers.
The Senate majority leader reportedly wants to see the article of impeachment that the House is set to approve and wants to hear the arguments in the Senate. According to the Times, McConnell has “made clear in private discussions that he believes now is the moment to move on from the weakened lame duck, whom he blames for causing Republicans to lose the Senate.”
Curiously, McConnell has said he will not reconvene the Senate early for an impeachment trial, contrary to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)’s desire that his counterpart use emergency powers to swiftly hold a trial and vote on whether to convict Trump and remove him from office.
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Thus, President Trump is likely to serve the remainder of his presidency, but may still be convicted on the charge of instigating an insurrection after he leaves the White House.
But even if they can no longer remove him from office, the Senate, which will soon have a Democrat majority, can, by a simple majority vote, decide whether to bar President Trump from ever running for office again, according to Senate precedent set by the disqualification of two federal judges by simple majority votes in 1907 and 1936. In these trials, the Senate determined that removal from office was connected to conviction (requiring a two-thirds majority), but disqualification from future office was a discretionary ruling not connected to conviction and removal. While some argue about the constitutionality of these rulings, there is little doubt a Democrat-controlled Senate would follow this precedent.
President Trump and McConnell have reportedly not spoken since mid-December, when McConnell informed President Trump that he would be recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect after the Electoral College certified Biden’s victory.
After the Capitol incident last week, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, McConnell’s wife, resigned from her post, citing the president’s conduct.
“This failed attempt to obstruct the Congress, this failed insurrection, only underscores how crucial the task before us is for our Republic,” McConnell said as the Senate reconvened on Wednesday to finish the electoral count interrupted by the siege. “Our nation was founded precisely so that the free choice of the American people is what shapes our self-government and determines the destiny of our nation.”
According to Fox News, McConnell is “done” and “furious with President Trump.” And Axios reports there’s a 50-50 chance the majority leader will vote to convict.
Axios reportedly was told that “McConnell sees this fight as his legacy — defending the Senate and the institution against the verbal attack of the president and the literal attack of his followers.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is reportedly struggling with what to do.
“House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy would love a Trumpless world, but doesn’t want to knife him with fingerprints,” Axios wrote.
Per the Times:
While Mr. McCarthy has said he is personally opposed to impeachment, he and other party leaders have decided not to formally lobby Republicans to vote “no,” and an aide to Mr. McCarthy said he was open to a measure censuring Mr. Trump for his conduct. In private, Mr. McCarthy reached out to a leading House Democrat to see if the chamber would be willing to pursue a censure vote, though Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ruled it out.
Republican lawmakers who side with Democrats on impeachment may well be serving their last term. According to a survey by John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates, “60 percent of battleground voters view the Democrats’ second impeachment effort as a waste of time. Moreover, 80 percent of Trump voters and 76 percent of Republicans indicated that they are less likely to vote for a member of Congress who votes in favor of impeaching Trump.”
Considering Republican voter dissatisfaction with the party’s leadership in Congress and in many state positions, the future of the GOP is uncertain. This could be the beginning of the end for the party of Lincoln. Many of President Trump’s supporters are hoping he will begin a third party once out of office, though it remains to be seen how such an effort would affect the country’s electoral future. Would it help or hinder the Left’s chances at the ballot box?
Whatever happens, American voters, including the Kentucky Republicans who helped McConnell sail to an easy reelection, will have to improve their ability to discern between patriots and saboteurs.
