Over the summer, a wide variety of Republicans talked up the idea of impeaching President Obama — their reasons were never altogether clear — prompting a series of complaints from Beltway pundits. Of course, commentators weren’t irritated with GOP extremism; pundits complained about Democrats using Republican rhetoric for fundraising and grassroots activism.
In time, Republican leaders convinced their brethren to quiet down, though in late August, Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) told his constituents that impeachment proponents would just have to be patient. Republicans should wait until after the November elections, he said, to “proceed on that question.”
Well, the November elections are effectively over. Yesterday, Andrew Kaczynski reported:
A Republican congressman says impeachment would be on the table if President Obama acts unilaterally on immigration by taking executive action to slow deportations.“Well impeachment is indicting in the House and that’s a possibility,” said Texas Rep. Joe Barton on NewsMaxTV’s America’s Forum. “But you still have to convict in the Senate and that takes a two-thirds vote. But impeachment would be a consideration, yes sir.”
In case it’s not obvious, there’s literally nothing to suggest executive actions on immigration policy are illegal, impermissible, or grounds for impeachment. Indeed, Obama wouldn’t even be the first president in modern times to shape immigration policies through executive actions.
But Barton’s willingness to make comments like these are a reminder that some Republicans haven’t forgotten about the tactic — and those who assumed the idea was just some Democratic fundraising stunt were mistaken.
What’s more, let’s not forget that the post-election impeachment chatter isn’t limited to Barton.
If you missed this segment from Friday’s show, it’s worth checking out:
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."