Republicans in Congress hit the panic button, begin talking about impeaching Donald Trump
On Sunday, Palmer Report pointed to a fundamental shift in how the Republicans were approaching Donald Trump. Four prominent GOP members of Congress each spoke up during the course of the day to condemn Trump and/or strongly push back against his latest actions. Although many members of the Resistance decried it across social media being not nearly enough, it was nonetheless a sign that something major was afoot within the Republican ranks. Now another shoe is dropping today.
The weekend saw Trey Gowdy, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and John McCain all taking public stands against Donald Trump (link). Now today Lindsey Graham stated on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show that Trump should be impeached if he tries to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Jeff Flake then began tweeting about “impeachment” if Trump fires Mueller. So now we’ve gone from four prominent Republicans in Congress speaking out against Trump on the same day, to two prominent Republicans publicly threatening Trump with impeachment. This isn’t by accident.
Whether they’re coordinating this, or they’ve each come to the same place on their own, these Republicans have clearly concluded that their best move is to begin publicly pushing back against Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic antics. Is this because they fear what his implosion will do to the country, or what it’ll do to their Republican Party? In any case, they’re now running scared. So where does this go from here?
Although these Republicans are taking an objectively weak stand against Donald Trump in comparison to how far he’s pushed the boundaries of the law and the Constitution, it’s a startlingly strong stand in comparison to the GOP’s usual party line toward Trump. As we explained on Sunday, something has clearly jolted them. Notably absent are the voices of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, the two titular GOP leaders in Congress. It raises the question of why so many prominent Republicans in Congress are speaking up while they’re laying low.
