The Conversation

The Case for Impeachment

Starting the process will rein in a president who is undermining American ideals, Yoni Appelbaum argued in March.

Yoni Appelbaum acknowledges that the impeachment of Donald Trump would almost certainly not result in his removal from office, but argues that it would severely damage his political prospects. This argument ignores the significant negative effects of an impeachment effort on the Democratic Party, regarding both its election prospects and its ability to govern post-2020.

Unless a clear and overwhelming consensus emerges that Trump has committed major felonies, there are two reasons the Democrats should refrain from launching an impeachment process.

First, impeachment would dominate the rest of Trump’s term, sucking the oxygen from discussion of any other substantive issues. It would prove impossible, while impeachment hearings proceed, for Democrats to draft, enact, and effectively publicize legislation that their candidates can run on in 2020. In other words, impeachment would define Democrats solely as anti-Trump and deprive them of the opportunity to define what they are for.

Second, impeachment would be a partisan political circus, with nearly all Democrats voting for and nearly all Republicans voting against. Public anger at politicians and distrust of government would only grow, as would the likelihood of further gridlock and failure to address the nation’s problems, no matter who is elected next year.

Nicholas Lang

I’m not persuaded by Appelbaum’s case that the start of impeachment hearings will sway Republicans. Given the current political polarization, I think impeachment is more likely to unite Republicans behind Trump. The process will inevitably focus the public on the actions of House Democrats like Nancy Pelosi. Faced with a choice between Team Trump and Team Pelosi, Republican voters and senators would choose the president.

David Leonhardt

It is astonishing that Yoni Appelbaum’s essay does not mention the person who would be the principal beneficiary of a successful impeachment: Mike Pence. This is the crucial fact that distinguishes any effort today from the attempt to impeach Andrew Johnson.

Had the Radical Republicans succeeded in 1868, the new president would have been one of their