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FakeNoose

(32,339 posts)
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 08:22 PM Jan 2019

The shutdown is an impeachable offense if Trump vetoes a bill to reopen the government

Link: Raw Story 01/10/2019
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/checkmate-shutdown-impeachable-offense-trump-vetoes-bill-reopen-government/



Checkmate: The shutdown is an impeachable offense if Trump vetoes a bill to reopen the government

One of Washington’s favorite parlor games of late has been debating what constitutes an “impeachable” offense, and whether President Trump has committed one. An obvious candidate has gone unnoticed: the government shutdown itself. Unlike previous presidents during shutdowns, Trump is not vetoing bills he objects to — an action clearly within his purview. He is promising to veto bills he does not object to because Congress has not given him an appropriation he seeks — $5.7 billion for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He wants to shut down parts of the government — for “months or years” — until he gets his wall money.

Under the Constitution, he has no right to demand such an appropriation — much less to hold vital government functions hostage to obtain it. The president is not coequal with Congress when it comes to appropriations — the power of the purse belongs to the legislative branch, not the executive.

- snip -

Trump’s demand for an appropriation from Congress because of a security crisis on the border was anticipated by the drafters of the Constitution; they specifically refused to combine the power of the purse with the role of commander in chief. (This after all, was the specific grievance against the king of England that sparked the American Revolution itself.)

Worse, in shutting down the government to extort an appropriation he is not entitled to, Trump is violating his oath of office and breaching one of his core fiduciary duties: to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” (Emphasis added.) Obviously, a shutdown of one-third of the government for “months or even years” will make the execution of many laws utterly impossible – particularly since the Department of Justice is one of the shuttered agencies. Trump cannot assert that he must shut down the DOJ. The Democrats have passed an appropriation for that department, to which he concedes he has no objection. He is merely trying to use the shutdown as blackmail to force Congress to fund the wall (or at least however much of it can be built for $5 billion).

Taking as our source the very Federalist Society from which Trump gets his judicial appointee punch list, breach of fiduciary duty is the key standard for the “misdemeanors” the Constitution cites, along with criminal acts, as grounds for impeachment.


Commentary by Carl Pope, Salon

- more at link -

So ... is this checkmate or what?

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The shutdown is an impeachable offense if Trump vetoes a bill to reopen the government (Original Post) FakeNoose Jan 2019 OP
Which only highlights that the real culprit here is McConnell RockRaven Jan 2019 #1
And the media need volstork Jan 2019 #3
Perhaps One Reason McConnell Won't Permit a Vote dlk Jan 2019 #2
Yep Fuzzpope Jan 2019 #4

RockRaven

(14,782 posts)
1. Which only highlights that the real culprit here is McConnell
Thu Jan 10, 2019, 08:25 PM
Jan 2019

He is preventing bills from being considered and voted upon. This is his shutdown as much as it is Trump's, if not more.

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