Why is obama not impeached

Impeachment is not a legal process, but a political one. Perhaps an illustration would be helpful. On August 28, , President Barack Obama committed an impeachable offense. What message is the President trying to send? If the House had decided to impeach Obama on the basis of his tan suit, it would have been a valid impeachment. Presumably, many people would have questioned the wisdom and legitimacy of the impeachment, but no one could have prevented it.

And if the House had impeached Obama, the Senate could have convicted him and removed him from office. Surely, many people would have objected and complained that sartorial choices are not a proper subject of impeachment.

However, a Republican Senate majority may embolden impeachment supporters for a different reason. With the majority Republicans could force a vote in the Senate. On the Senate floor, the majority leader has the right of first recognition.

This precedent is critical because it is the sole right allowing the majority to control the Senate agenda. It gives the majority the ability to schedule votes, debate, and other aspects of day-to-day operation in the Senate. If Republicans gained the majority, their majority leader McConnell, assuming he is reelected could force the Senate to vote on impeachment even if they knew it would fail. However, as I mentioned before, there is virtually no scenario where Republicans pick up the votes necessary to remove President Obama from office.

So after this whirlwind of options we end up back where we started. The impeachment decision boils down to one political question: would impeaching the President help or hurt the party in the next election? Would a symbolic vote, which would not result in removal from office, pay electoral dividends or alienate moderate voters?

For now, the impeachment movement is too fringe even for the likes of Cruz, the capitol's chief boat-rocker. The constitutional standard for impeachment is "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Klein says its careful, investigative, nonpartisan approach distinguishes his book from the various Tea Party email forwards and impeachment petitions that offer a laundry list of conspiracy theories.

His book even debunks some claims, such as the allegation that the Department of Homeland Security is buying ammunition in bulk. To the Obama Administration, such claims are simply further proof of the wild-eyed intransigence the president faces. The passion for ousting Obama may be here to stay.