The start of the impeachment proceedings hangs, sooner or later, over every American president.
Photo: REUTERS
The Republican majority in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress threatens to launch an impeachment (removal) of President Joe Biden on corruption charges. According to Republicans, when he was Vice President of the United States, he allegedly traded his name and influence, helping, in particular, his son Hunter run a profitable business in Ukraine. The hearings should start in September.
All of this would sound threatening if we don’t take into account that lawsuits to remove the incumbent head of state have long become something of a national political game for US lawmakers. There have been several dozen such attempts in US history, but no president has ever lost his job, with the exception of Richard Nixon, who resigned in 1974 under threat of impeachment in connection with the Watergate scandal.
In the last 80 years alone, attempts have been made to “impeach” Presidents Truman, Johnson, Reagan, Bush Sr. and Younger, and Obama under various pretexts. Everything was in vain: the approved resolutions were archived. But two of the nation’s leaders have been indicted: Bill Clinton in 1998 for lying during the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, and Donald Trump twice in 2019 for involving foreign governments in election meddling, and in 2021 (one week before the expiration of his presidential term). term) – for inciting to storm the United States Congress building in Washington.
But the thing is, impeachment is only half the battle. Under the United States Constitution, the decision is made by the House of Representatives of Congress, by simple majority. But then it must be approved by the Senate, already by two thirds of the votes. In the case of Clinton and Trump, the balance of votes in the Upper House between Democrats and Republicans simply did not allow it, and both remained in the White House. And now the Republicans have a majority in the House of Representatives and can, in principle, push a resolution to remove Biden from office with him. But the Senate, albeit by a slim margin, is dominated by the Democrats, and the Democrats, of course, will not offend their fellow party president.
However, while the status quo in the highest echelons of power is likely to continue, the political damage to Biden’s already tarnished reputation is expected to be significant. Although it seems that old Joe doesn’t realize it: his physical and mental strength is fading before his eyes. But, as if he were blind to the abyss, he stubbornly drags himself toward a second term, which is unlikely to see him through to the end. And then the current Vice President Kamala Harris will take the reins of government into her own hands. And this lady can give so many different reasons for impeachment, choose, I don’t want to.
