As this week got underway, House Republicans were all set to add to their rather extraordinary impeachment list. In the wake of the recent assassination attempt targeting Donald Trump, Rep. Greg Steube of Florida announced plans to file articles of impeachment against Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina soon after took steps to force a vote on the measure.
The efforts quickly proved moot: A day later, Cheatle announced her resignation. But impeachment fans didn’t have to wait too long for the GOP to move forward with a related gambit. The conservative Washington Times reported:
Rep. Andy Ogles began an effort Tuesday to impeach Vice President Kamala Harris, initiating the move shortly after she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Mr. Ogles, Tennessee Republican, accused Ms. Harris of high crimes and misdemeanors for her role as “border czar” in the Biden administration, arguing in his impeachment resolution that she has shown “extraordinary incompetence” in enforcing immigration laws.
At the outset, it’s worth emphasizing that the California Democrat has never served as the administration’s “border czar,” no matter how many times Republicans and their allies claim otherwise.
But that’s not the only area of concern here.
For one thing, as GOP lawmakers really ought to know, impeaching a sitting vice president over policy disagreements is ridiculous.
For another, if seeing the words “Ogles,” “Harris” and “impeachment” in the same sentence rings a bell, there’s a good reason for that: This same highly controversial congressman first introduced an impeachment resolution against the vice president last summer. The far-right Tennessean’s measure didn’t go anywhere, so he apparently decided to unveil a new one because —well, just because.
But stepping back, there’s a larger context to all of this: Much of the House Republican Conference seems to look at impeachment campaigns as toys to be pulled off the shelf when they’re bored. In fact, it’s time to update the big list:
President Joe Biden: There is absolutely no evidence uncovered by Republicans that the incumbent Democrat has actually committed any high crimes, but as of this morning, there are literally seven different impeachment resolutions pending in the House targeting the sitting president.
Vice President Kamala Harris: Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert introduced an impeachment resolution targeting Harris in the last Congress (I still don’t understand why) and it picked up two co-sponsors. Ogles, meanwhile, has unveiled two resolutions over the last 13 months.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: For the first time in American history, the House voted earlier this year to impeach a sitting cabinet secretary, targeting Mayorkas despite lacking evidence of high crimes.
Attorney General Merrick Garland: Several GOP lawmakers, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, have raised the prospect of impeaching the nation’s chief law enforcement official. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a pending impeachment resolution against Garland a while back, as did Rep. Scott Perry, who also unveiled a similar resolution.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken: For reasons that remain fuzzy, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman introduced an impeachment resolution last summer targeting the nation’s chief diplomat. Rep. Dave Schweikert also raised the specter of impeaching Blinken.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin: Nearly a year ago, Rep. Cory Mills of Florida introduced a resolution to impeach the Pentagon chief, and it managed to pick up three GOP co-sponsors. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: A handful of congressional Republicans have endorsed impeaching Buttigieg, though formal resolutions have not yet been introduced. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona: Though this effort hasn’t yet moved beyond the discussion phase, Cardona is apparently in the mix. The New York Times reported last fall that “some” GOP lawmakers would like to impeach the education secretary. FBI Director Chris Wray: Schweikert also made behind-the-scenes comments suggesting the FBI director handpicked by Trump might face some kind of impeachment threat. Soon after, Greene introduced an impeachment resolution targeting Wray, which has picked up a half-dozen GOP co-sponsors. Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia: Greene, apparently upset about criminal cases against accused Jan. 6 defendants, has also introduced an impeachment resolution going after the federal prosecutor. (It has four Republican co-sponsors.) Taken together, the House Republicans’ broader impeachment list now includes the sitting president, sitting vice president, six Cabinet secretaries, the director of the FBI and a largely unknown federal prosecutor. White House spokesperson Ian Sams told NBC News earlier this year, “House Republicans are treating impeachments like an Oprah audience giveaway. They are disregarding the Constitution for the sake of cheap, baseless political stunts, instead of focusing on the issues Americans care about, and it lays bare how extreme they have become.”
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."
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