“People say, ‘should the president be impeached?’ I say, we’re getting close to that.”
— Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA), in a video form BuzzFeed.
Republicans Float ‘Impeachment Lite’ Option
Republicans are backing off suggestions they might impeach President Obama over his executive action on immigration but have floated the idea of censuring him instead, TPM reports.
Said Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID): “I think we should censure the president of the United States. I think it’s unfortunate that he did this, I think we need to lay out clearly why this is unlawful.”
“The censure strategy has much of the bombast of impeachment — a formal vehicle for Republicans to vent their disapproval of Obama, and throw red meat to the conservative base — without the risks of a politically nuclear confrontation that could backfire on them… But there’s one big problem with this plan: censuring the president might be unconstitutional. Or at least, any censure resolution that would meaningfully punish the president risks violating the Constitution, legal experts say.”
Landrieu Ad Claims Obama Will Be Impeached
A new radio ad for Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) features Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) saying Republicans will impeach President Obama if Bill Cassidy (R) wins the U.S. Senate runoff on Saturday, BuzzFeed reports.
[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]Landrieu, of course, says she “approves this message.” [/speech_bubble]
GOP Leaders Warn About Talking Impeachment
Politico: “Senior House and Senate Republicans don’t want their rank and file to even raise the specter of impeaching Obama, fearing it would give Democrats a message to rally around as the president’s party is split over the hugely controversial move. Ahead of the upcoming announcement, top congressional Republicans are trying to find the right balance between expressing outrage and overreaching, hoping that the battle doesn’t lead to either a government shutdown in December or calls among conservatives to impeach the president.”
[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]No issue divides Republicans more than immigration.[/speech_bubble]
Clyburn Says GOP Will Try to Impeach Obama
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) is predicting that Republicans will try to impeach President Obama so that they can “put an asterisk” next to the name of the first black president, Politico reports.
Said Clyburn: “There will be some reason found to introduce an impeachment resolution. These Republicans have decided that this president must have an asterisk by his name after he leaves office, irrespective of whether or not he gets convicted. It is their plan to introduce an impeachment resolution.”
GOP Lawmaker Raises Possibility of Impeaching Obama
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) said that impeaching President Obama “would be a consideration” if he moves forward unilaterally on immigration, TPM reports.
Said Barton: “Well impeachment is indicting in the House and that’s a possibility. But you still have to convict in the Senate and that takes a two-thirds vote. But impeachment would be a consideration, yes sir.”
