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Bring ’em Back to Finish the Job
Pelosi jammed through her Articles of Impeachment on a party-line vote, then promptly cut everyone loose for Christmas break. She also threatened to not send the Articles to the Senate. Trump ought to call them back into session to finish the job. No vacay ’til you finish your work…
Constitution says so, in Article 2, Section 3. Doesn’t Impeachment constitute an “extraordinary occasion”?
Published in GeneralSection 3
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Provocative thought. Any precedents?
Yes. In 1948 Truman was frustrated with the 80th Congress which was under Republican control so he called them back early and demanded that they pass a number of his pet bills. The Republicans promptly voted them down and adjourned. Truman then went around the nation, denouncing the Do-Nothing Congress.
I suspect the Congress is not technically in recess. I expect we will see pro forma sessions designed to prevent any recess appointments. Why elevate something President Trump characterizes as illegitimate?
I was going to post the same thing.
Is that really necessary, since the GOP controls the Presidency and the Senate? I know the Mitch kept the Senate in pro forma sessions when Obama was POTUS and the Senate GOP. I don’t see the need now.
@cliffordbrown Am I missing something?
The whole Recess Appointment thing is a joke. The idea was urgent filling a slot until Congress could ride back into session. Congress should assert it consent and tell the White House, those are not real, and they don’t count.
I like the idea. The Democrats should have coal shoveled into their stockings – a double in your face . . .
Doesn’t that only apply to the Senate. The House does not have any input into appointments.
I understand that the House and Senate are in recess or quasi-recess until January 7, 2020. But Trump could call them back into session on January 2, 2020, or even December 27, 2019 for that matter.
However, the fact remains that Pelosi isn’t going to send over the Impeachment until she appoints the House Managers, and she isn’t going to do that until she has some sort of assurance that the Senate will allow for witnesses to testify. We are in a situation akin to a government shut-down. Someone has to blink, and Pelosi and McConnell are two of the most crafty and hard-headed people I have ever seen.
I think that Politico has it right.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are roaming freely between the lines of the Constitution, which spells out very little about the technicalities of the impeachment process. So both leaders, two of the savviest and most ruthless tacticians of the era, are working to exploit this unmapped wilderness to their advantage.
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/20/pelosi-mcconnell-impeachment-088741
Following is an Article that explains Pelosi’s actions, Impeach and Withhold. https://thebulwark.com/impeach-and-withhold/
Here is an article that blames McConnell for the delay. https://thebulwark.com/americas-mitch-mcconnell-problem/
There is another reason for the House to delay. The likelihood that Trump will again shoot himself in the foot with another stunt like the July 25 phone call and will get caught. Lev Parnas may hold more explosive evidence about Trump and Guilani. https://thebulwark.com/why-is-mitch-mcconnell-afraid-of-this-man/
What do I think? I think that witnesses need to be called and McConnell and Graham are trying to subvert what a trial is. All Schumer is asking for are four witnesses. However these witness can give direct testimony if Trump violated his oath of office to faithfully perform the duties of his office, but seeking personal gain by getting “an investigation” of Biden. I appreciate that McConnell desperately does not want any witnesses.
I completely appreciate that so far none of my fellow Ricochetti agrees with me about impeachment. http://ricochet.com/706039/trump-should-be-impeached/ I am just looking at the chess moves.
It looks bad for the House to not send over the Articles of Impeachment and it looks bad for the Senate to not hear any witnesses. As a political matter, the question is who is has the stronger stomach for public criticism, Pelosi or McConnell.
Get out the popcorn! Both Pelosi and McConnell will be posturing for the next two weeks, as will all partisans, full of anger. MSNBC and Fox News will be blistering.
Pelosi is doing what she is doing because she can. McConnell is doing what he is doing because he can. They are on a collision course.