Three Republican lawmakers in Michigan filed articles of impeachment Thursday against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, accusing her of violating the state constitution and abusing her powers.
Reps. Beau LaFave, Matt Maddock and Daire Rendon said the state’s Democratic chief executive had committed crimes and misdemeanors via her lockdown orders and her legal and enforcement action related to them.
“She has exceeded her constitutional authority, violated the constitutional rights of the people of Michigan, issued orders that are not in the best interests of the people of this state, and used the Pandemic as an opportunity to reward political allies,” the resolution states, according to a report Thursday by Kalamazoo TV station WWMT.
Even though Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the Michigan Legislature, don’t look for Ms. Whitmer to be hitting the unemployment line any time soon.
Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield said Wednesday that impeachment efforts against Ms. Whitmer will go nowhere.
“It’s no secret that I disagree with a lot of what this governor has done. I’ve even taken the governor to court and won, because of how she dealt with COVID-19,” he told WWMT the day before the articles were introduced.
“But Republicans are not the party that impeaches someone because we disagree with them,” he said.
Ms. Whitmer has ruled via executive orders and a state-of-emergency decree, rather than working with the Legislature, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her rules struck Republicans and many Michiganders as capricious, as well as exceeding her powers.
“The lack of consistency and clear justification for certain prohibitions was arbitrary and not necessary for the protection of public health,” the impeachment articles state.
The state Supreme Court reversed her state-of-emergency order, agreeing with the Legislature that the law that gave her the powers had been since superseded.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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