Congress

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Senate will take up a measure to forbid Trump to go to war with Iran without Congressional approval, writes Daniel Flatley at Bloomberg. Republican senators Mike Lee, Susan Collins and Rand Paul are joining with Democratic senator Tim Kaine in sponsoring the bill. With the support of those Republicans, […]

Congress

The Senate Refused to do its Duty in Impeachment, but the American People Can Still do Theirs

OtherWords

By Diallo Brooks | – (Otherwords.org) – Hours before the House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for using the power of his office to sabotage our elections, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) gave a passionate speech on the House floor emphasizing that his colleagues’ duty with their pending votes was far more than political — it […]

Congress

Sen. Mitt Romney’s Historic Speech Explaining Why he Voted to Impeach and Remove Trump

contributors

Sen. Mitt Romney’s remarks on the impeachment vote on Wednesday are below. He voted to convict Trump and remove him from office, and was the only Republican senator to so vote. It was a profile in courage. “Sen. Mitt Romney’s full speech announcing he will vote to convict Trump” The Constitution is at the foundation […]

Congress

The Senate’s Make-Believe Trial of Donald Trump

OtherWords

(Otherwords.org) – In my 40 years as a lawyer, I’ve never seen a trial flout the basic requirements for fairness so brazenly. By Mitchell Zimmerman | January 28, 2020 President Trump is on trial. As in a real trial, charges have been asserted: the House alleges high crimes and misdemeanors. A judge presides: Chief Justice […]

Congress

When the Senate Refused to Call Witnesses, it Contravened the Founders’ intent for Impeachment

The Conversation

By Clark D. Cunningham | – Senators will soon decide whether to dismiss the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump without hearing any witnesses. In making this decision, I believe they should consider words spoken at the Constitutional Convention, when the Founders decided that an impeachment process was needed to provide a “regular examination,” […]

Congress

Does Impeachment Need a Crime? Not According to the Framers of the Constitution

The Conversation

By Stefanie Lindquist | – Donald Trump’s legal and political defenders are all singing the same refrain: The president can’t be impeached; he hasn’t committed a crime. Alan Dershowitz, the constitutional lawyer now representing Trump, said it during an appearance on CNN. Sen. Ted Cruz echoed it on Twitter, noting there was “not even a […]

Congress

US Public on Trump: Throw the Bum Out, He’s a Failure on Iran, Health Care

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new CNN poll done in mid-January (and reported by Jennifer Agiesta) finds that 51 percent of Americans favor the conviction and removal of Donald J. Trump as president. Only 45 percent disagree. 53 percent of Americans think he does a rotten job as a president. As George Conway pointed […]

Congress

The War Powers Act isn’t Restraining the President: Congress Must de-Fund Wars

Harry Blain

(Foreign Policy in Focus) – By any measure, the War Powers Act has failed to constrain presidential warmaking. A simpler step would be to stop funding wars. Practically speaking, the Trump administration’s extrajudicial assassination of a top Iranian general was probably legal. The rationale is straightforward: Congress has steadily settled on a constitutionally dubious theory […]

Congress

Trump is 3rd President in History to be Impeached; But will Senate Remove Him?

The Conversation

By Brendon O’Connor and Daniel Cooper | – The US House of Representatives voted today to impeach President Donald Trump, making him the third president in the history of the United States to be impeached. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump. The first stated that Trump committed […]