Nobody could have predicted. Paul Ryan's House Republican maniacs have threatened to force a vote on a stupid thing against the wishes of their leadership, the same tactic that was the beginning of the end of John Boehner's speakership.
Leaders of the House Freedom Caucus presented Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) with a choice on Tuesday: Move our impeachment resolution forward in committee on your own accord, or we will likely force the matter by filing a "privileged resolution." In other words, an end run around leadership to the House floor.
They want a commitment from Ryan by the end of the week on a timetable to advance the impeachment measure.
"There is no real desire for a privileged motion to be made" to force an impeachment vote against Koskinen, said Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). "However, all procedural options are on the table, and members of the Freedom Caucus are committed to having this issue fully addressed."
Who do they want to impeach? IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Why? Well, that's not entirely clear. They say he's "breached every single duty he had." But there are some echoes here of the Clinton email non-scandal. Remember the whole brouhaha over the IRS targeting tea party groups that came to nothing? Yeah, it's about that. There's missing emails that Koskinen, who came to the IRS after the scandal broke, may or may not have known about and therefore may or may not have lied to Congress about. The Justice Department "closed its two-year investigation into the case, declining to bring charges against anyone at the agency." So Koskinen declined to do anything. So he must be impeached.
And if Paul Ryan doesn't agree that he must be impeached, and neither does the House Judiciary Committee, where the hearings would have to be held? Well, then. Blow the place up again with a privileged resolution, just like they did with Boehner. Have fun with that, Mr. Ryan. Seems like chairing the Republican National Convention will be like a vacation after this.
