On their very first day in control of the House, congressional Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., launched an extreme agenda they know has absolutely no chance of getting approval from the Republicans still in control of the Senate and President Trump in the White House.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., released a statement on Friday aggressively opposing the agenda saying, “Apparently, Democrats in their first day as the House majority intend on pushing divisive, pro-abortion policies that would allow taxpayer dollars to flow to international organizations that promote and perform abortions.” He continued, “This is nothing more than far-left wing theater as these policies have no chance of passing.”
But some Democrats in the House also filed impeachment papers on day one against Trump. Both of these absurd actions reveal their real intention—removing Trump from the White House and advancing their activist agenda. This is nothing more than a political stunt, and runs completely contrary to the legitimate vested powers the Constitution provides to Congress.
The sheer audacity and divisiveness of the Democrats’ behavior comes off as petulant and childish. Pelosi is so beholden to the radical wing of her party that she even downplayed the incoming freshman congresswoman that was caught on tape shouting to impeach Trump while using a profane expletive in front of a throng of applauding partisans.
There is absolutely no legal or constitutional basis for the impeachment of Trump, nor any specific authority actually granted to Congress to allow for pro-abortion policies or anything else on the Democrats’ list of first priorities. This is bare political brinkmanship in its most debased form. Pelosi and her cadre are attempting to undermine the will of voters who duly and lawfully elected Trump by manipulating the rule of law and the constitutional process to evict a sitting president they simply hate.
Congress is not vested with the power to remove a president if they merely disagree with his politics (or for that matter, his Twitter feed). The constitutional provision for removal of a president exists so that there is a process for peaceful transfer of power if a president is actually found guilty of a “high crime or misdemeanor.” The Constitution requires the House to act as a prosecutorial body which can, in essence, file charges against a president if they could be proven through sufficient evidence. Then the Senate acts as the jury to review the evidence and render a verdict. Just like any other trial, this process must never be politically motivated and thereby undermine due process protections.
But, just as with the Brett Kavanaugh hearings in the Senate, House Democrats are seemingly disinterested in due process, they only care about defeating Trump, marginalizing the electorate, and manipulating the rule of law, even if they have to lie and cheat the system to do it.
Rubio is absolutely correct in calling these first actions by the Democratic-led House “far-left wing theater.” More Republicans need to rediscover genuine conservatism and voters need to regain their knowledge and understanding of our system of government, recognizing that the far-left are no longer choosing to espouse or embody the values that make our country great.
We have separation of powers for a reason. Our government is designed this way precisely to ensure an individual’s fundamental, unalienable rights are protected. This is true for religious liberty, sanctity of life, national security, parental rights, marriage, and the family. This isn’t just a belief and perspective conservatives want to advance through our own agenda. This is, fundamentally, about understanding what we are conserving and what our government’s sole obligation actually is to every person.
True conservatism isn’t my belief versus your belief, it’s understanding that our rights pre-exist government.
Unfortunately, on day one of their majority, Pelosi and the Democrats demonstrated they don’t care about any of that. They want to reshape our government through their tactics and games, and undermine the rights of the public and the legitimacy of our system. Good thing there are people like Sen. Rubio that are standing firm and saying no.
Jenna Ellis (@jennaellisJDFI) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is Director of Public Policy at the James Dobson Family Institute. She is a constitutional law attorney, radio host, and the author of The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution. She can be reached at [email protected].
