It’s time to bar Trump from office
Congress has the power to impeach and remove the president. But it also has a more lasting option: barring Trump from ever being president again.
The Trump-led insurrection has led to renewed calls to impeach and remove the president. While this is reasonable, justified and understandable, it’s essentially implementing the inevitable. In 13 days he’s out. A more lasting and fitting response would be to bar Trump from ever holding public office again.
The Constitution grants the Senate with the power to convict and remove a president. It requires two-thirds or 67 senators. Impeachment only requires a simple majority, as does the extra step of disqualifying a president from holding “any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.”
If 17 Republicans joined the 50 Democrats in the Senate, they could convict and remove Trump from office. But it would only take a simple majority vote to tack on a more lasting punishment — disqualifying Trump from ever being president again.
This largely unknown provision of the Constitution has been used 3 times to bar federal judges from serving again after being impeached and removed from office. Now it’s time to use this provision on the president.
Unfortunately, disqualifying Trump from a future term in the Oval Office can only be achieved after impeachment and conviction. His actions have renewed calls for his removal, even from conservative organizations like the National Association of Manufacturers. While getting two-thirds of the Senate remains a high hurdle, there are signs all over Washington that Trump’s Republican support is crumbling.
Multiple resignations at the White House, stinging criticism from Republican Senators, multiple reversals of those objecting to the election results, and reports of cabinet members triggering the 25th amendment, are all signs that Trump has lost significant support from his party. And since the last impeachment vote, Republicans have lost the White House and the Senate so there’s added political rationale to get him out.
A vote to disqualify Trump would take him out of the 2024 race, something that may appeal to some supporters’ selfish instincts. Several Republicans in the Senate are already angling for the 2024 nomination. Taking Trump out of contention would be like throwing a burning tire off of their necks.
While impeachment and conviction will no doubt face headwinds from the most rabid Republicans who voted to object to the election results, it’s worth the effort. With only 6 senators voting to overturn the election, there is a real possibility of sucess this time. And if leading an insurrection isn’t cause for banning someone from the White House, what is?
