Don’t Be Scared of Impeachment–This One’s an Easy Call

When I joined the Air Force, I took the oath every serviceperson takes: to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. Every member of Congress takes this same oath.

At his inauguration, President Donald Trump swore a much shorter oath: to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. He has since actively rejected his responsibility to the Constitution, ignoring Supreme Court rulings, violating the emoluments clause, stripping people of due process, and engaging in nakedly corrupt self-enrichment. We are in a constitutional crisis, in every sense of the word.

None of Trump’s unconstitutional actions are disputed. My responsibility as a citizen is the same as the responsibility of our duly elected officials in the Senate and the House: to remove this blatantly unfit president from office. If Trump isn’t sure he needs to uphold the Constitution, he should not be leading our democracy. Simple.

Trump is a blatantly corrupt tyrant laying waste to the Constitution. Democrats know it. Republicans know it. The American people know it. The remedy is clear: impeachment.

Democrats have made it clear that they believe Trump has committed impeachable offenses. They tell us endlessly, in all forms of social media, public speeches, and fundraising texts, about the bribery and the violation of rights and the usurpation of the power of the purse. They all pledge to do something about it.

That something must be impeachment.

Impeachment is the legal remedy for the unconstitutional actions of this president, enshrined in the Constitution by the Founding Fathers and framers of the Constitution. They understood the danger a tyrant would pose to our republic, and provided impeachment as the clear, constitutional method to remove “a president who mistakes himself for a monarch.” Impeachment and removal of a tyrant is the fundamental responsibility of duly elected members of the House of Representatives.

I am taking my oath seriously. In April I started the grassroots Citizens’ Impeachment with former Senate staffer Gabe Garbowit. We started out as Operation Anti-King, and recruited citizens from every congressional district and sent more than 600 emails to ask their representatives if they would support impeachment. Fifteen representatives said yes.

One of those Representatives is also taking their oath seriously: Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) has gone on to introduce articles of impeachment under Rule IX, requiring the House to vote on impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for his undisputed high crimes and misdemeanors. That vote happens this week.

It’s a simple question: Is this impeachable conduct or not? Any representative who answers “yes” to that question and intends to uphold their oath of office should stand firmly behind impeachment. This includes voting to move forward the articles of impeachment introduced by Rep. Thanedar.

Reportedly, some Democrats aren’t thrilled at the opportunity for an up-and-down vote on impeachment, but they should be. A majority of likely voters support impeachment, including a majority of Independents (55%). Democratic likely voters are particularly enthusiastic, with 64% strongly supporting impeachment and another 16% supporting impeachment somewhat. Impeachment is a slam-dunk signal to a Democratic representative’s constituents that they are upholding their oath to the Constitution and the American people.

Trump is not invincible. His coalition is starting to crack over the obvious incompetence and corruption, and he has the lowest approval rating of any president in the past 80 years at this point in their term. If Congress refuses to uphold their own oath to support and defend the Constitution by removing him from office, there isn’t anything left to hold back this rogue president from a full power grab.

Voters also have a huge part to play here. We need to insist that every duly elected representative—Democrat and Republican alike—uphold their oath of office and move forward articles of impeachment this week. The more our elected officials hear from their constituents, the harder it is to ignore us and the constitutional crisis. Citizens’ Impeachment has instructions and scripts to help you tell your representative to support impeachment and move forward H. Res 353, Impeaching Donald John Trump.

The Citizens’ Impeachment movement came together very quickly—from two passionate and determined people to thousands of active volunteers in less than two months—because we recognize two things. The first is that impeachment is the only way to remove a tyrant as laid out in the Constitution. And the second is that the power of people coming together, to tell our elected representatives what we want to see them do, to pressure them into committing to this path publicly, is how we can get them to act.

Trump is a blatantly corrupt tyrant laying waste to the Constitution. Democrats know it. Republicans know it. The American people know it. The remedy is clear: impeachment. This week, representatives have the opportunity to align themselves with the American people, uphold their oath, and support and defend the Constitution. We will see how many of them take it.