House Republican kicks the door wide open for Donald Trump’s impeachment
Yesterday, House Republican Francis Rooney announced that he was open to the idea of impeaching Donald Trump. This was a big deal because, while a smattering of House Republicans have spoken up in support of the current impeachment inquiry, Rooney was the first GOP House member to suggest that he might actually vote in favor of impeaching Trump. Now Rooney’s story has taken a surreal turn.
Just now, Francis Rooney abruptly announced that he’s retiring. He’s only been in the House for about three years, meaning his retirement is definitely not of the ordinary variety. Notably, he is planning to finish out his current term, which means he’ll still be in office when the House inevitably holds its vote on articles of impeachment. So what’s really going on here?
Our guess is that Congressman Rooney knows what a lot of other House Republicans know. They’ve looked at the polls and seen that a growing majority of Americans now want Donald Trump impeached and removed, but they also know that most Republican voters don’t want Trump impeached. If Rooney votes against impeachment, he may have a hard time getting reelected in 2020, even though he’s in a traditionally Republican district. But if he votes to impeach Trump, he could lose a 2020 primary challenge to a pro-Trump GOP candidate.
Francis Rooney is the latest House Republican to figure out that there’s no way to navigate Donald Trump’s impeachment and come out the other end unscathed. Like so many other House Republicans have done over the past two months, he’s decided to retire at the end of his term. What’s different with Rooney is that he’s openly talking about the possibility of impeaching Trump while announcing his retirement. That tells us he’s likely to vote in favor of impeachment.
Of course the House Democrats have more than enough votes to approve articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, whether House Republicans like Francis Rooney join them or not. What the Democrats needs are twenty Senate Republicans to vote in favor of convicting Trump and removing him. But Senate Republicans can read the polls just like Rooney can. They’re busy doing the math on whether their own personal reelection prospects will be better or worse if they vote for or against removing Trump. For now, Rooney has given House Democrats bipartisan cover for their impeachment inquiry.
