OP/ED
10 | FEBRUARY 14, 2020
The ire of impeachment
“Politics” are a waste of time
By Evan Lee Editorial Staff
By Donald Halsing Editorial Staff
One year ago, I wrote that President Trump’s constitutionally controversial acts could lead to his downfall. My column, “The cost of crisis,” suggested Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to secure funding to “build the wall” - enacted Feb. 15, 2019 - could sway independent voters away from him during his bid for reelection. And so the cost for him, I wrote, was 2020. One year later, Trump has become the third president in American history to be impeached - largely due to his continually controversial acts. House Democrats, responding to a U.S. election scandal involving Trump and the Ukrainian government, accused the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Their majority vote adopted two articles of impeachment against him Dec. 18. However, their effort to actually remove the president was never realistically the goal - given Trump’s grip over the Republican majority Senate. Trials there unsurprisingly ended with his acquittal on both articles Feb. 5. Though, Republican Mitt Romney did break the partisan line by voting guilty on abuse of power. Regardless of the odds, House Democrats pushed the impeachment process forward. Elijah Cummings, former chair of the House Oversight Committee, said, “When the history books are written about this tumultuous era, I want them to show that I was among those in the House of Representatives who stood up to lawlessness and tyranny.” His quote was included in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s speech made before the impeachment debate was introduced to the House. “If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty,” she argued. “It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice,” she added. Republicans think differently. Mitch McConnell, majority leader of the Senate, said, “The House’s vote yesterday was not some neutral judgment that Democrats came to reluctantly. “It was the pre-determined end of a partisan crusade that began before President Trump was even nominated, let alone sworn in,” he said, referring
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to Democratic members of Congress who voiced their desire to impeach the president before his inauguration in 2017. “This week wasn’t even the first time House Democrats have introduced articles of impeachment. It was the seventh time,” he added. The opinions of the Congressional leadership largely reflect those of their parties back home, according to a recent national opinion poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal, released Feb. 2. The polling suggested that 84% of Democrats were supportive of Trump’s removal, calling it “necessary,” “justified,” and “warranted” when asked what one word they’d use to describe it. Republicans, meanwhile, disapproved of Trump’s removal by a rate of 94%, using words such as “ridiculous,” “wasteful,” and “sham” to describe it. Neither set of data is particularly surprising. What matters most over the impeachment issue - just as it did during the national emergency issue last year - is where independent voters stand. As controversial and divisive as President Trump may be, the impeachment process is just as controversial and divisive of a method Democrats used. Which is why independents were divided over Trump’s impeachment in the opinion poll, with 50% reported as opposing his removal and 45% approving it. The polls did favor disapproval, however. And as an acquitted Trump attacks Democrats for trying to remove him prior to the election, disapproval over his impeachment may rise further. “‘I don’t think we should go down that path because it divides the country… it’s just not worth it.’ That was Nancy Pelosi a year ago, right?” Trump rhetorically asked after his acquittal. “Instead of wanting to heal our country and fix our country ... they want to destroy our country,” he said of their impeachment effort. It’s a statement that independent voters may take with them to the polls. [Editor’s Note: The referenced column, “The cost of crisis,” can be found in the Feb. 22, 2019 edition of The Gatepost.]
When citizens elect people to represent them in government, they expect those people to dedicate their time, effort, and resources to solving issues. But, in the United States, our politicians are not always focused on bettering the lives of their constituents. Many are focused on maintaining their positions and questioning their counterparts across party lines. Our government wastes time, resources, and taxpayer dollars on insignificant quarrels when far more pressing issues are on the line. Our environment is irreversibly damaged. Our people live with insufficient food, water, and shelter. Our system of healthcare fails millions of citizens. Our wealth distribution is unequal. Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling. Meanwhile, our country’s leaders - especially those at the federal level - are not prioritizing these problems. Instead, they focus their valuable time in office on staying in control and ensuring no one will dethrone them. President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is the worst example of hours lost. U.S. Congress halted working on important issues in favor of arguing about impeaching Trump. Was this the best way to spend Congress’ time? Each week - except on Sundays U.S. representatives, and later, senators, spent the entirety of each day sitting through hours of impeachment arguments, according to The New York Times. Collectively, this took months. This was time wasted. Your taxes paid for our federal legislators to sit idle for hours at a time. We could be using our time more effectively. The point is, impeachment proceedings distracted politicians from performing their duties at their full potential and making laws. Even if they lost half a day to attend the trial, that was half a day they were not writing bills, researching legislation, and dealing with day-to-day business. Research by the Heritage Founda-
tion found the Trump’s impeachment trial cost over $3 million in taxpayer funds, including lawyers, personnel, security, travel, and supplies. This included the salaries of over 100 congressional employees, “who largely didn’t attend to normal duties from September through December,” reported the Daily Signal, a conservative news site. Let’s hope the 2020 presidential election doesn’t further distract representatives from their responsibilities - but the aftershocks of the impeachment trials are sure to be on their minds. Running for president is a massive time commitment - one which requires full dedication. Usa.gov instructs candidates to announce their intention to run in the spring the year before the election. By the spring of the election year, candidates are out on the road and busy attending debates and rallies. Candidates have presidential glory on their minds two years before the inauguration - at least. How can they focus on their work while daydreaming about sitting in the oval office? And, during the year of the election, candidates will spend most of it away from Washington. If taxpayers provide salaries for congresspeople to work in the Capitol, they shouldn’t spend a whole year sightseeing the country! It is unfair to the American people when sitting politicians run for president. They are neglecting their obligations to serve the people. U.S. politicians are wasting time at a critical moment in history. Our government’s time-wasting impacts not just our citizens - it detracts from our role as a global superpower and in addressing international problems. Using environmental crises as an example - a quarter of Australia’s land burnt to a crisp while our Congress listened to Trump’s phone calls with Ukraine. If politicians continue to focus on their own egos - and neglect time-sensitive issues - the clock may run out before we even realize.
