Recently Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner announced that he intends to sue President Barack Obama. The lawsuit is based on what many Republicans feel is Obama’s use of executive orders, especially those dealing with ACA or Obamacare as it is popularly known. Many political analysts called Boehner’s move a publicity stunt that will cost the American taxpayer and further divide the nation. Because Boehner does not have enough votes in the House of Representatives to bring impeachment charges, suing Obama is a backhanded way of trying to limit the powers of the presidency. By all accounts, the lawsuit has little chance of succeeding.
Now the threat of impeachment has been mentioned again but this time not by Republicans. This time the warning of the possible impeachment of President Obama comes from the White House. This past Friday, Senior Presidential Adviser Dan Pfeiffer stated, “Impeachment is a very serious thing that has been bandied about by the recent Republican vice presidential nominee and others in a very un-serious way…We take it very seriously and I don’t think it would be a good thing.”
This warning comes as critical mid-term elections are taking place throughout the nation and the very real possibility that Republicans could control the House and the Senate. Republican control of both arms of Congress could very well mean a motion for Obama’s impeachment. But political analysts have stated that no action taken by Obama during his presidency has risen to the level of “treason, high crimes and misdemeanors “as required by the US Constitution. An impeachment proceeding would also be very unpopular with the American people. According to a CNN poll, “only 35% want Obama impeached, with nearly two-thirds saying the President should not be removed from office.”
Questions arise as to why the White House is giving any credence to impeachment talk. One possible motive could be fund raising and an attempt to galvanize the Democratic voter. There are some Republican candidates who are running for office on the promise they will try to impeach the president. Countering this seems to be a move by the Democratic National Committee to bring awareness to donors and voters over these threats. Even though prominent Republicans have stated that an impeachment move would be a bad idea, the threat of impeachment is still on the table for Obama.
