Efforts to impeach Barack Obama: Difference between revisions
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===December 2013=== |
===December 2013=== |
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On December 3, 2013, 'the House Judiciary committee held a hearing on Obama, formally titled "The President's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws," that has been viewed as an attempt to begin justifying impeachment proceedings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/Enough-with-impeachment-blatherings-5042210.php |title=Enough with impeachment blatherings - San Antonio Express-News |publisher=Mysanantonio.com |date=2013-12-06 |accessdate=2014-05-16}}</ref> |
On December 3, 2013, 'the House Judiciary committee held a hearing on Obama, formally titled "The President's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws," that has been viewed as an attempt to begin justifying impeachment proceedings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/Enough-with-impeachment-blatherings-5042210.php |title=Enough with impeachment blatherings - San Antonio Express-News |publisher=Mysanantonio.com |date=2013-12-06 |accessdate=2014-05-16}}</ref> |
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==Lawsutie in lieu of impeachment== |
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In July 2014, [[John Boehner]] organized a lawsuit against President Obama for delaying the implementation of the [[Affordable Care Act#Employer mandate and part-time working hours|employer mandate]] of the [[Affordable Care Act]]. Although he did not say that the lawsuit was an alternative to impeachment, it has been speculated by political commentators that this was the strategy. In opining that this was the strategy, observes cited Boehner's experience with the [[impeachment of Bill Clinton]] as well as their belief that on its merits, the lawsuit has many shortcomings.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-07-13/opinion/ct-clarence-page--palin-impeach-obama-oped-0713-jm-20140713_1_president-barack-obama-sarah-palin-impeach-obama|title="Sarah Palin says 'Impeach Obama!' but other Republicans flinch"|date=July 13, 2014|publication=[[Chicago Tribune]]|section=Editorial}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Boehner’s Bet: Lawsuit Will Quiet Impeachment Calls|url=http://blogs.rollcall.com/hawkings/obama-impeachment-calls-can-lawsuit-quiet-them/|first=David|last=Hawkings|date=July 11,2014|publisher=[[Politico]]}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 01:00, 15 July 2014
 | The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. (June 2013) |
During the presidency of Barack Obama, Republican congressmembers have stated that Obama should be impeached and removed from office.[1] Rationales offered for impeachment have included an alleged White House cover-up after the 2012 Benghazi attack [2] and failure to defend the borders from illegal immigration. No Congressional Representative has drawn up a list of articles of impeachment and proposed them to the Judiciary Committee, as happened in the efforts to impeach George W. Bush.
Suggestions of impeachment
In October 2010, prior to the elections in which Republicans won control of the House, Jonathan Chait published an article in The New Republic called "Scandal TBD" where he predicted that if Republicans were to win control of the House, and Barack Obama were to win re-election in 2012, the Republicans would try to impeach Obama and use any reason possible as pretext.[3]
2010: Darrell Issa
In May 2010, Republican Darrell Issa of California stated that the allegation that the White House had offered Pennsylvania Representative Joe Sestak a job to persuade Sestak to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary election against Arlen Specter "is one that everyone from Arlen Spector to Dick Morris has said is in fact a crime, and could be impeachable".[4] With the possibility of becoming chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in January 2011, Issa said in October 2010 that the committee would not seek to impeach Obama.[5]
2011: Michael C. Burgess
In August 2011, Republican Congressman Michael C. Burgess of Texas stated that the impeachment of Barack Obama "needs to happen" in order to prevent Obama from "pushing his agenda". Burgess did not mention any grounds for impeachment.[6]
2012: Jon Kyl
In June 2012, Senator Jon Kyl said on the Bill Bennett radio show that "impeachment is always a possibility" when discussing the Obama Administration policy on immigration.[7]
May 2013: James Inhofe, Benghazi attack
In May 2013, Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma stated that President Obama "could be impeached over what he alleged was a White House cover-up after last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya".[2] Inhofe said that "of all the great cover-ups in history—the Pentagon papers, Iran-Contra, Watergate, all the rest of them—this ... is going to go down as most egregious cover-up in American history".[2] Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz of Utah also stated in an interview that impeachment was "within the realm of possibilities" with regard to the September 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi, Libya, later clarifying that "it's not something I'm seeking" and that "I'm not willing to take that off the table. But that's certainly not what we're striving for."[8]
August 2013: Tom Coburn, Blake Farenthold, Kerry Bentivolio
In August 2013, Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma responded to a questioner in a town hall meeting, who had asserted that President Obama was failing to carry out his constitutional responsibilities, by saying that "you have to establish the criteria that would qualify for proceedings against the president... and that's called impeachment".[9][10] Coburn added, "I don't have the legal background to know if that rises to 'high crimes and misdemeanors', but I think you're getting perilously close".[9] Coburn did not specify what grounds he felt would support impeachment, but NBC News noted that Coburn "mentioned that he believes Department of Homeland Security officials have told career USCIS employees to 'ignore' background checks for immigrants". Coburn mentioned no evidence that substantiated his belief.[9]
At a town hall meeting with constituents, Congressman Blake Farenthold said that Obama should be impeached due to issues with Obama's birth certificate. Farenthold said that he thinks that "the House is already out of the barn on this, on the whole birth certificate issue."[11]
On August 19, 2013, Republican Congressman Kerry Bentivolio stated that if he could write articles of impeachment, "it would be a dream come true". To help in achieving that goal, he retained experts and historians.[12][13]
December 2013
On December 3, 2013, 'the House Judiciary committee held a hearing on Obama, formally titled "The President's Constitutional Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws," that has been viewed as an attempt to begin justifying impeachment proceedings.[14]
Lawsutie in lieu of impeachment
In July 2014, John Boehner organized a lawsuit against President Obama for delaying the implementation of the employer mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Although he did not say that the lawsuit was an alternative to impeachment, it has been speculated by political commentators that this was the strategy. In opining that this was the strategy, observes cited Boehner's experience with the impeachment of Bill Clinton as well as their belief that on its merits, the lawsuit has many shortcomings.[15][16]
See also
- Impeachment investigations of United States federal officials
- Timeline of the investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack
- Impeachment of Bill Clinton
- Efforts to impeach George W. Bush
- Efforts to impeach Dick Cheney
References
- ^ Seitz-Wald, Alex (May 10, 2013). "Impeach Obama! Again!". Salon.
- ^ a b c Jeremy Herb, "GOP Sen. Inhofe: Obama could be impeached over Benghazi 'cover-up'", The Hill (May 10, 2013).
- ^ Chait, Jonathan (Oct 6, 2010). "Scandal TBD". The New Republic.
- ^ Congressman: White House Job Offer to Sestak May Be an 'Impeachable' Offense, Fox News (May 25, 2010).
- ^ Montopoli, Brian (October 22, 2010). "GOP's Darrell Issa: 'Not a Chance' We'll Impeach Obama". CBS News. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
- ^ Reid J. Epstein, "Impeach Obama, says Michael Burgess", Politico (August 9, 2011).
- ^ Volsky, Igor (June 26, 2012). "Top Republican Senator Suggests Impeaching Obama Over Immigration Policies". Thinkprogress.
- ^ "Rep. Jason Chaffetz doesn't rule out impeachment for Obama over Benghazi", ABC News. May 15, 2013.
- ^ a b c Carrie Dann, "Coburn raises possibility of impeachment at town hall", NBC News (August 22, 2013).
- ^ Walsh, Joan (August 23, 2013). "No, you're not impeaching anyone". Salon. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
- ^ Tam, Ruth (August 12, 2013). "Rep. Farenthold says House could impeach Obama". The Washington Post.
- ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (Aug 24, 2013). "Ignoring Qualms, Some Republicans Nurture Dreams of Impeaching Obama". New York Times.
- ^ Kopan, Tal (August 21, 2013). "Kerry Bentivolio: Impeachment 'a dream'". Politico.
- ^ "Enough with impeachment blatherings - San Antonio Express-News". Mysanantonio.com. 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
- ^ ""Sarah Palin says 'Impeach Obama!' but other Republicans flinch"". July 13, 2014.
{{cite news}}:|section=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|publication=ignored (help) - ^ Hawkings, David (July 11,2014). "Boehner's Bet: Lawsuit Will Quiet Impeachment Calls". Politico.
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External links
- Huffington Post articles relating to the proposed impeachment of Barack Obama
- Meet the Impeachment Crowd: 6 Republicans Who Want Obama Out, a list of six Republicans who have voiced their opinions for Obama's impeachment.
- IRS and Benghazi Scandals Give Birther, Anti-Immigrant Impeach Obama Groups New Legs, U.S. News & World Report (May 13, 2013), article noting PACs seeking impeachment of Barack Obama
