Trump’s War Against Iran Is an Impeachable Offense
What the president has already done justifies a third article of impeachment.
BY BRUCE ACKERMAN,* The American Prospect, JANUARY 6, 2020
The Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the exclusive power “to declare War.” Moreover, the War Powers Act [...] requires him “in every possible instance [to] consult with Congress” before intervening in “situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.”
Nevertheless, Trump refused to tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he was considering his fateful step, even though the act designates her, and the president pro tem of the Senate, as the official recipients of his reports. But since he did take the time to consult his close advisers, along with some leading Republicans—making it clear that it was perfectly “possible” to talk to Pelosi—he plainly refused to obey the law. This act of defiance already marks Trump’s assassination of Soleimani as a lawless abuse of power.
Trump’s absolutist pretensions are emphasized further by his response to the act’s demand that he explain the “constitutional and legislative authority” for his intervention “within 48 hours.” His report to Congress fails to provide any such rationale.
* The author of the quoted article is a constitutional law professor at Yale.
The best way to deal with a president who attempts to distract from impeachment by committing a reckless, bloodthirsty, illegal, unconstitutional act of war is to impeach over that act of war as well. That associates the act of war with the rest of the conduct that makes the prez a danger to the country and unfit for office.
To make it explicit, counts that could constitute an article of impeachment on the prez’s recent actions toward Iran include:
- Illegal act of war under the War Powers Resolution
- Unconstitutional act of war without a congressional declaration
- Assassination of a foreign official against established national policy
- Wildly reckless act of war
- Overt threat of war crimes, per statements about destroying cultural sites
Besides, what would it mean to rely on laws and standard procedure alone and tell the prez something like he “must” stop after a 30-day window or somesuch? He’s already flagrantly violating the law and the Constitution. He’s already claimed that he can do anything he wants and that no one can stop him. What are they going to do, pass a bill that says, “Hereby be it resolved: Hey you, stop it, now. We really, really mean it this time. Cut it out!”? The act of material consequence available to the opposition party in the legislature is to impeach and press for conviction and removal.
Meanwhile Donald has been committing impeachable acts every week of his presidency. To build public pressure for impeachment that can stand a real chance of making the Senate convict and remove, the House Democratic majority should hold prosecutorial hearings and impeach on the full range of charges. We have plenty of evidence already for literal dozens of articles, and we find out more about them all the time. Rather than growing confused and tired of impeachment itself, I believe that more people will lose patience with Donald and see the dire urgency of removing him from office, and I think that more of those who are not currently politically active will begin to make themselves heard. Note that it wasn’t just news of the Ukraine scandal whistleblower that made public support for impeachment jump, it was also the fact that the House Democratic leadership announced that they would actually do it. Action can be its own persuasion.
Impeachment on different topics can make advocates and voters out of people who have an interest, whether abstract or directly personal, in those matters. For example, many people can relate to what it means to impeach on the prez’s corruption, nepotism, and profiteering from office. And think of what it could mean to naturalized citizens and minority communities to impeach on the president’s racist, bigoted immigration abuses.
When the House Democratic leadership announced two articles of impeachment on the Ukraine scandal, House Intelligence Chairman Schiff said (07:58-08:13):
We stand here today because the President’s continuing abuse of his power has left us no choice. To do nothing would make ourselves complicit in the President’s abuse of his high office, the public trust, and our national security.
That same argument applies to every other impeachable act that Donald—as well as many other administration officials—has committed. Congresspeople take an oath to protect and defend the whole Constitution, not just narrow, politically convenient portions of it. They must impeach on all significant offenses, or they are not fulfilling that oath. Any individual member of the House can force a floor vote on a privileged motion regarding an article of impeachment, and the House can move to hear that article in committee or impeach on it on the spot.
There is no time to waste. Donald will escalate and make things worse, and on top of the malice there’s the very real danger of escalation out of recklessness or merely miscommunication, including the danger of a nuclear war, as former Secretary of State William Perry warned yesterday. Meanwhile, against a fascist, appeasement would only mean that he keeps consolidating power. It is up to the political opposition to embrace confrontation and to take removal from office seriously. I believe that the House Democratic majority has the capacity to make it happen. It seems absurd to say it, but it could actually save the country and even the world.
Please call your congressperson’s DC office today and ask to expand the articles of impeachment to Iran and more. You can ask for support of an activist coalition set of six draft articles from November or another set to your liking. You can mention a charge or two that you think are most important. If you are inspired to do even more, Indivisible is running an action to call people in critical senators' states, so that we can get constituents to demand that their senators conduct a fair trial. Swarm the Senate activists are now at the capitol every day pushing the Senate to hold a real trial. If you haven’t already, join a local activist group like your nearest Indivisible chapter, and/or join the national impeachment action group By the People.
Recent related posts:
Congress can stop this madness: impeach now, again, on reckless war & on using assassination, Jan. 3, 2020
What Rep. Pelosi actually meant by "self-impeaching," and why it's important now: #ExpandTheArticles, Dec. 17, 2019
It's not too late to #ExpandTheArticles. A model impeachment hearing shows how! (video), Dec. 12, 2019
What it means to impeach narrowly on Ukraine (you can change that!), Dec. 6, 2019