In an unprecedented move, the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump a second time. The Republicans’ need to impeach Mr. Trump is even greater than that of the Democrats. They must exorcise Donald Trump’s ghost so that they can regain some of the credibility they lost following their leadership’s abject surrender to the President’s narcissistic whims and lies that instigated the attack on Capitol Hill.
Why support impeachment?
The only way for them to redeem themselves is to take the lead in the impeachment process both in the House and the Senate. There are many reasons that should prompt them to do so. First, Mr. Trump made the Republican Party his personal preserve and used it for his own glorification and profit. Most Republican leaders fell into his trap because they believed that this was a small price to pay in order to curry favour with Mr. Trump’s raucous base that had become the public face of the Grand Old Party (GOP), and which was seemingly their most loyal vote bank. Now they must extricate themselves from Mr. Trump’s clutches after he has brought the party into disrepute.
Second, even if Mr. Trump is not impeached or not removed under Article 25 (which allows the Vice-President to become acting President when a President is unable to continue his duties due to various reasons), he will face charges of a serious nature for inciting insurrection and mayhem against legally constituted authority after he leaves office. This will rub off on his supporters in Congress who either applauded him or were mute spectators of his despicable behaviour.
Third, as long as Mr. Trump is politically active and has the support of his hard-core base, he and his supporters will not allow a credible GOP candidate to emerge for the 2024 election. If Mr. Trump is nominated again, which is possible if he is not impeached and disqualified, he will drag the party and its Senate and House candidates down with himself in 2024 thus damaging the party’s revival prospects in the near future.
It is therefore in the party’s interest, and especially of those Republicans with presidential ambitions, to see that his political career is finished and that the impeachment also includes the clause that will not allow him to run for office in future. Mr. Trump’s removal is essential for a leader of national stature to emerge in the GOP who can be a credible candidate in 2024. Surveys show that a majority of Americans not only condemn the attack on the Capitol but also hold Mr. Trump personally responsible for it. A politically active Mr. Trump could send the GOP into a tailspin for years if not decades.
Possible delay
Even an impeachment after Mr. Trump leaves office could disqualify him from running again. This appears to be an increasingly likely scenario for two reasons. One, even if the House passes the articles of impeachment this week, the Senate will not be able to take it up until inauguration day, as it is not scheduled to reconvene until January 19. Two, Speaker Nancy Pelosi may decide not to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for consideration until 100 days after Mr. Biden has taken office to allow the new President to get his cabinet confirmed and take steps to combat the pandemic, and ensure that his first three months in office are not overshadowed by the controversy surrounding impeachment.
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There is much talk in Washington about the relative merits of accountability versus healing. This is a false dichotomy. Both can take place simultaneously reinforcing each other. As severe wounds have been inflicted on America’s body politic by a Republican President enabled by a collaborating GOP leadership, several of whose members outpaced the President in their inflammatory rhetoric, it is imperative that the Republican Party takes the lead on both counts — holding Mr. Trump accountable and reaching out to the Democrats. Only this will begin the healing process.
Mohammed Ayoob is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of International Relations, Michigan State University