Republican Party scrambles behind the scenes over Donald Trump impeachment talk
The scene keeps repeating itself: Donald Trump does something dastardly that makes him even less popular and less viable, various Republicans in office speak up against him, and then nothing comes of it – even as the majority of Americans demand impeachment and ouster. But behind the scenes, the GOP appears to be scrambling to deal with and suppress talk of impeachment within its own ranks.
According to political insider Scott Dworkin, a source on Capitol Hill has told him “Republican leaders warning GOP Members of Congress to not talk about a Trump impeachment ever-in any way—or else” (link). When asked what the “or else” part was, he added “Looks like loss of funding.” This report would seem to help further confirm what a growing number of outside observers have come to suspect: there are Republicans in Congress who want to publicly call for impeachment, and maybe even make it happen, but their own leaders are scrambling to muzzle them. But it may not work.
While he hasn’t been named specifically, the ostensible culprit is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He runs a Super PAC which has helped fund the election and reelection of a number of Republicans in Congress. He can threaten to cut off that funding in an attempt at keeping his own party in line. It’s believed that he used that tactic during the TrumpCare vote in the Senate. But as we all saw, it only partially worked, with three Republican Senators killing the disastrous bill by voting against it.
So now comes the question of how much longer the Republican leadership can essentially blackmail its own members into keeping quiet publicly about impeachment. It also raises the question of why someone like Mitch McConnell would be so desperate to quell such talk, even as he’s had his own problems with Trump. It’s almost as if Trump has some kind of dirt on McConnell, and he’s afraid Trump will tweet about it if impeachment does happen.
