For the moment, the historic burden rests most heavily on the House of Representatives, and with special force on Congressman Thomas P. (“Tip”) O’Neill Jr., 61, the floor leader of the Democratic majority in the House and the man responsible for ensuring the fairness of the impeachment process. ”The main thing is getting the show on the road,” says O’Neill.
Judging Nixon: The Impeachment Session TIME, February 4, 1974
"Impeach now" means exactly this:
Next Tuesday, the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins a hearing with a debate regarding abuses of power, neglect of responsibilities, and potentially criminal acts on the part of President Donald Trump (and possibly on the part of other executive branch officials as well) during the 2016 campaign and into his time in office, up to the present day.
In the opening statement, Chairman Jerrold Nadler explicitly states that, at the end of the deliberations, he will hold a vote on whether to open impeachment hearings, which, if successful, would then be subject to a full House vote. Chairman Nadler also declares that any obstruction of the hearing process is immediate grounds for impeachment. Then the deliberations begin and run their course, and the representatives vote.
That's it.
Put in itemized form, here is what it is to impeach now:
The Judiciary Committee deliberates, based upon what we know today, over whether to initiate an impeachment inquiry. Then it adopts a resolution seeking authority from the full House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry. The House debates and approves the resolution. Passage takes a simple majority vote. The Judiciary Committee and other committees begin their investigations.In essence, such an act would mean that our elected representatives assert, for all to hear, that together as the Congress they have the duty and the power to hold President and members of the executive branch accountable under the law and under our social contract, the Constitution. What comes after is beyond the scope of impeach now, although you can find the full list of steps on the Cornell Law website. Steps 1, 2, and the start of 3, as re-stated above, that is what I ask.
It matters greatly that it be an impeachment hearing, not mere “oversight” hearings, in order to shape the political impetus around and press coverage of the proceedings and also to head off or clarify executive branch officials’ potential (likely) subsequent acts in contempt of Congress. Absent the credible threat of impeachment for interfering with the hearings, Trump and his cronies would commit perjury, defy subpoenas, and otherwise obstruct the investigation at will, thus hamstringing a conclusion as to illegality or intent. Besides, each time that Congress does not promptly hold administration officials to account for the day’s freshly-revealed transgression, it reinforces the public’s perception that they never will.
That said, we know plenty enough already to see out many varied counts of impeachment, not just ones related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Let us not pretend otherwise. Let not our political lives be “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” And let us not feign ignorance of the logical end result of Congress applying the law.
It is my view that, once we open hearings with impeachment expressly “on the table,” the elements of a successful impeachment vote in the House and conviction in the Senate will inexorably and irrevocably build. Though even if the effort dies out in either legislative body, we will better serve our nation in the long run if we try. If we do not try, then we will have answered the question, “Are we in the end a nation of liberty and justice for all?” firmly in the negative.
The judicial branch cannot handle this on its own, particularly as Trump appoints more hack judges, Senate Republicans railroad them through, and Senate Democratic leaders stand feebly by. Mueller will not save us alone, especially given how corrupted the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations are. A post-impeachment President Mike Pence would occupy a weakened and constrained post, and that’s if, having been hand-picked by Paul Manafort, he can even hold onto the vice presidency that long.
To wait for the next election would be to dangerously tempt catastrophe, be it economic, fascist, military, or even nuclear. We have fallen too far into a racist anti-democratic morass as it is. Waiting would also mean to have the Democratic message be, “Worst president ever! We’re just going to yell about it and not exercise our power to remove him, though.” To supposedly risk nothing by refraining to act would actually be to risk everything. And meanwhile the climate clock keeps ticking, as every day’s additional carbon emissions ruthlessly undermine prospects for a thriving ecological future.
The law does not uphold itself. People do. Or do not.
Impeach now.