This is a story that is accelerating by the minute. A representative in the Illinois state legislature named Karen A. Yarbrough found an obscure rule of the US House of Representatives which says that a joint resolution of a state legislature can initiate federal impeachment proceedings. The U.S. House then has to take up the bill of impeachment.
She promptly put such a resolution forward in the Illinois legislature, charging George W. Bush with impeachable offenses. Now an impeachment resolution has been proposed in the California legislature, that includes not only Bush but Cheney.
When news of this hits Washington, lawyers are going to be scrambling to see if this interpretation of the House rule really works. Republicans in the House are going to be sweating and scrambling to find parliamentary ways of derailing this. And other legislatures are going to be debating articles of impeachment.
All kinds of questions arise.
If nine legislatures pass nine resolutions with different charges against Bush and/or Cheney, does the House have to consider them all? Is there anything like double jeopardy involved in impeachment? Or does that only apply to the Senate, if at all?
At the very least, the back and forth over the rule, and the legislatures vying to be the first to pass such a resolution, will put impeachment before the public in a way that not even a Neil Young song could. This is one of those unexpected and unforeseen possibilities that always seem to arise. In the past, a few good people in the right place at the right time, with the right procedures and rules, saved this Republic. So far it hasn’t looked like it would happen this time. But maybe…
ohhhh! From your fingertips to the eyes of the Fates. (Darn it–aren’t they supposed to be blind! I knew there was a catch somewhere!)
boy wouldn’t this be a Fun Monkey in the Wrench-works…wonder if the Governor has to sign off on it or has veto powers.
would be that the governor doesn’t have to sign a joint resolution for it to be in force, because it’s not a law. The California situation may be different because this resolution is attached as an amendment to another bill. But this is the kind of attention this move will require. By exploring all the “what ifs”, impeachment becomes at the very least a topic of discussion.
And I believe that’s the correct line of succession, to the Speaker of the House. But it all would depend on exactly how it is done–and my guess is that if this really looked like it could happen, Cheney would resign so Bush could appoint an uninvolved–and unimpeachable– Republican as vp.
It’s been a while since I read anything about it, but I’m pretty sure both houses of Congress have to confirm a newly appointed Veep, so if they timed this right, they could still pull it off. (Come on, while we’re hoping, let’s hope for the whole pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! 🙂 )
If I believed in the sort of god who answered prayers, I would so be praying for this right now. I would also be praying for it to finish happening right after the Dems take back Congress in November, so we could say something like, “Hello, President Pelosi.” (That’s the succession, right?)
Wonder if there is a snowball’s chance in hell of either Ill. or Calif. actually pulling this off. Then if other State legislatures got that old time religion and joined the party, it might get real interesting. One can cross their fingers, pray, hope, or whatever. I think I’ll try all three myself.
This says it all:
I like it!!!