Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina said one thing a padded Republican majority in the House and new GOP majority in the Senate means is the increased prospect of Republicans’ impeaching President Obama.
“I have been saying for several weeks now, long before the election, that if they maintain their majority in the House and got a significant majority in the Senate, there will be some reason found to introduce an impeachment resolution,” Mr. Clyburn said on MSNBC. “These Republicans have decided that this president must have an asterisk by his name when he leaves office, irrespective of whether or not he gets convicted.”
Lacking votes in the Senate to convict, “why are we going through this whole charade?” he said.
“It is to put an asterisk next to this first African-American president in the history of the country — put an asterisk next to his name when the history books are written,” Mr. Clyburn said.
Over the summer, House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, dismissed such talk of impeachment as a scam cooked up by Democrats and the White House.
“We have no plans to impeach the president,” Mr. Boehner said. “We have no future plans.”
Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican, said similarly that Democrats are the ones bringing it up for political purposes when presented with Mr. Clyburn’s remarks.
“No impeachment legislation is pending, none has been proposed; I know no one who favors that as a course that’s in any leadership position,” Mr. Cole said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown.” “So again, I think this is a Democratic fantasy, and I certainly don’t see it coming to pass.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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