I don’t get the Republicans in Congress. This is true in a number of ways. As the originator of a view that has come to be known as “Hamiltonian,” I’m a supporter of open markets and trade, but not laizzez faire. Strong government is needed to achieve policy outcomes that serve the national interest in peace and prosperity. My views largely align with the center in contemporary American politics, though the scope of government is far greater than I would have imagined possible when I served as Secretary of the Treasury. Still, I find much of the Republican policy preferences to be puzzling. For example, I’m not sure why wanting environmental protection is such a partisan issue. To me it seems absurd to prefer more coal plants to more wind farms, now that we know the health and environmental impacts of coal. And I can appreciate that health care has come to be seen by many over the years as a basic human right — like life and liberty, freedom of religion and speech — as opposed to a service delivered entirely through market transactions. Nonetheless, these are common policy questions these days, and the Republican party controls Congress and passes the laws it wants. The Democrats will have to win the elections in 2018 and 2020 to change or block some of these things.
I can appreciate that there have been eight years of pent up demands and desires for repealing Obamacare, rolling back regulations, cutting corporate taxes, getting conservatives on the judiciary, and cutting (non-defense) spending. I get it – the Republicans really, really want these things. However, it is terribly disappointing that they’re willing to look they other way with regard to President Trump’s words and deeds, and simply hope for the best, hoping he doesn’t break anything valuable, while Congress addresses a handful of policy matters such as tax cuts and Jeff Sessions, Scott Pruitt and Betsy DeVos change policy via regulations. I didn’t think Congressional Republicans would be as willing as they are to harm their own country and their democracy to get the policies they want.
The President of the United States is entirely unfit for the job. He knows little of policy and government, he profits financially from his office, he inflames international conflict with his statements and tweets (even seeming to goad North Korea toward nuclear war), he has talked about the “fine people” supporting white supremacy whose rally resulted in murder in Charlottesville, he repeatedly lies to the public about things that are blatantly false and easily debunked by the facts, and he even invited a foreign power to interfere in the US election during his campaign. Numerous other offenses are not definitively proven, but enough evidence exists to suggest corruption and the appearance of corruption: He has seemed to obstruct justice by trying to end the FBI investigation into electoral interference and collusion, paid off a porn film actress with whom he had an affair to keep her from talking to the press, bragged about sexually assaulting women, and too many other offenses to keep track of. Looking at the newspaper headlines on any given day reveals his unfitness for the job. And this seems to be a view held by millions across the political spectrum in the US, though far more on the left and center than on the right. It is even the stated opinion of several Republican members of Congress. And if the reporting coming out of Washington is to be believed, far more members of Congress hold this view privately, including the Congressional Republican leadership. In short, it appears that most members of Congress are not fans of the President.
This is the part about the Republican party that baffles me the most, especially Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. I can understand that they and other Republicans who believe the President is unfit are scared. They’re scared of the President, of voters who support him, of losing their jobs and their majority in Congress. Politicians acting in this way – refusing to own up to the public and reveal their real views – is quite common. But the level of fear and cowardice that Ryan and McConnell have demonstrated is particularly disappointing, and remarkably stupid.
They’re willing to risk our democracy, nuclear war, becoming a banana republic, to get a tax cut, deregulation and Neil Gorsuch. I cannot believe they think it’s worth the tradeoff. What’s more, they’re so scared they don’t even see the obvious way out of their predicament, the way forward to avoid the tradeoff altogether: impeachment.
As it was stated in Federalist 65, impeachment is not about criminal behavior per se. Rather, it should be used to address “those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or in other words from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.” To think that impeachment is only warranted by proof of criminal wrongdoing – the purview of the FBI investigation – is to miss the point.
Imagine that Ryan and McConnell said to their Republican colleagues that it was time to remove the president, and that they had to do this quickly, like they did with tax legislation. With their characteristic speed, serious pressure on rank-and-file members, and total disregard for public input or opinion, I think they could get a majority in the House and a two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove the President from office. At the point Ryan and McConnell started the impeachment proceedings, the long knives would come out. There would be a flood of stories from party insiders, White House aides, and others ready to abandon, embarrass and denigrate the President with accounts of his erratic and dangerous behavior. Public support of the President would drop even further, making the job of removing him from office even easier.
If they did this, then the Congressional Republicans would have Mike Pence in the White House – one of their own. They could have their tax cuts, regulatory rollback, conservative judges and conservative ideology – all without the trouble of Trump. What a bargain! Then they would have some time to focus on 2018 primary challengers without Trump in the White House, and they would not have to worry as much about the possibility of a massive anti-Trump vote costing them their majority. Plenty of people in the center-left and left of the political spectrum might actually be relieved and appreciative of this. By the time 2020 rolled around, Trump would be both discredited and old news. Pence or another nominee could run, confident that they could capture the votes of the vast majority of those who voted for Trump.
And even if the Republicans were to lose the White House and their majorities in Congress, they could still feel good about having done a great service for their country.
It all seems pretty logical and straightforward to me. But then again, I just don’t get the Republicans.
Alexander Hamilton