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euters reports that House Republicans are planning to introduce articles of impeachment against Attorney General Eric Holder. While this plan is politically unfeasible, given that the Democrats control the Senate and Republicans don’t have anywhere near the two-thirds majority required to actually pass the articles in the House, it does speak volumes about our political discourse and the recent paralysis of the Legislative Branch. While the grounds of impeachment are not entirely unfounded, they blow a minor administrative mishap way out of proportion and are based more on politics than any serious misdeeds. People in Congress are not stupid; they know these measures will not pass. They are not doing this to realistically pursue justice and the protection of our democracy, but rather to publicly shame a political rival. This illustrates how divided and ineffective our legislature is. Rather than dealing with serious issues that require their attention, they are spending their time on ideological measures to say mean things about their opponents. If we want an effective government we have to stop our the men and women in Congress from doing things like this.
The first article of impeachment is actually based on wrongdoing, and something the attorney general should be held accountable for. It is based on ‘Operation Fast and Furious’ in which the Justice Department sold guns to Mexican drug cartels with the intention of tracking the guns and catching high-up violent criminals in the cartel. In actuality the U.S. just sold 2,000 guns to low-level traffickers. This policy initiative was a massive failure, and Holder should bear some responsibility for it. Holder is accused of trying to cover up the program’s failures by refusing to give Congress documents they subpoenaed. While this may be illegal, it does not warrant impeachment. In the late ’80s, President Ronald Reagan continued to support Nicaraguan Contras in secret after Congress had passed legislation ordering him to stop doing so. While this was clearly illegal, Reagan did not face impeachment for it. While both programs were illegal, they were massive policy blunders that should never have happened. They were administrative errors rather than intentional invocations of harm upon the nation. There should be measures taken to prevent anything like this from ever happening again, but that doesn’t mean we should impeach someone over it.
Subsequent articles of impeachment are ideologically driven and clearly based more on politics than any breach of the law. One takes aim at Holders choice not to enforce same sex marriage laws that have since been ruled unconstitutional. As a member of the Executive Branch he has the right to prioritize certain cases, and choosing not to prioritize same sex marriage cases is well within his right. I find it admirable that he chose to stand up for the rights of same-sex couples rather than continue to discriminate against them. Holder was acting within the law by not enforcing laws that clearly violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The Supreme Court agreed with his objection.
Another article takes aim at his decision to not enforce mandatory minimums for prison sentences on non-violent drug offenses. This is another case in which he has the right to prioritize and deprioritize the enforcement of certain laws. Non-violent drug offenders do not deserve to go to jail for making mistakes in their personal lives, and I commend the attorney general for recognizing this. Mandatory minimums also carry racial undertones and are partly responsible for why drug laws disproportionately affect minorities. Like the article same-sex marriage laws this is clearly based on House Republican’s disagreement with his policy rather than any misdeeds.
One other article focuses on his decision not to prosecute an IRS administrator who decided to over-scrutinize a conservative political activist. This may require further investigation, but given what we know about the situation right now, it is not grounds for impeachment as Holder is not implicated in the controversy whatsoever.
While Eric Holder has made some mistakes, these mistakes do not warrant impeachment. If House Speaker John Boehner knows what’s good for him and for the party he will not allow the articles to be introduced, and even if he does, they stand virtually no chance of passing. It is clear House Republicans are using these articles as an act of public humiliation. Frankly, the House has better things to do than whine about how much they don’t like someone.
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