Impeachment

The Hill - Democratic leaders are walking a delicate line as liberals clamor for President Trump’s removal over the Iran war.  On one hand, the minority Democrats are well aware that they have virtually no power to boot Trump from office — an effort that’s opposed by even some in their own party — and they don’t want to distract from the issues of rising costs and inflation, where they see Republicans as most vulnerable heading into the midterms. 

On the other hand, Trump’s threat to use the military to attack civilian infrastructure and destroy “a whole civilization” has infuriated base progressives, who say the president crossed a line that demands his removal, either through impeachment or the 25th Amendment. Liberals in the Capitol are advancing the cause.

Time - Congressman Jamie Raskin knows as well as anyone in Washington the promise and perils of impeachment. As the lead manager in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the Maryland Democrat spent days prosecuting a case that ultimately collapsed against the hard arithmetic of a Senate acquittal. 

Now, with Democrats once again confronting calls to try to remove Trump from office after his recent threat to wipe out the Iranian civilization, Raskin was asked by party leaders to talk the caucus through the range of options available to address presidential conduct before they reach a consensus position.

In an interview with TIME...Raskin says he plans to walk colleagues through the constitutional pathways available in moments of presidential crisis, including impeachment and the 25th Amendment, while underscoring the political constraints around both options.

“There’s obviously tremendous anxiety in the country about the deranged conduct and behavior of the President,” Raskin says, while stressing that Democrats remain in the minority. “For people to say we should just go ahead and impeach him simply denies this political reality. There is not a single Republican who has called for impeachment or indicated to us interest in impeachment at this point.”