With the House of Representatives impeaching President Donald Trump this past December, there continues to be widespread national debate and divisiveness over whether or not the Senate should actually vote to remove him from office. Regardless of one’s political orientation, Trump has made numerous controversial decisions since the 2016 election. The House’s decision to impeach the president was a historic decision, provided that his impeachment marks only the third in the nation’s history, but its timing was imprudent, since the impending 2020 election could very well replace Trump with a different president. The House voted to impeach Trump on charges for both pressuring Ukraine to produce damaging information on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, and for obstructing Congress’ investigation. However, regardless of one’s political beliefs, President Trump should be removed from Office. Trump is a threat to our American democracy, and this certainly transcends politics.
Aside from the charges brought to impeach Trump, the president has demonstrated a blatant disregard for the political institutions which are instrumental to our democracy. Trump frequently cites Article II of the U.S. Constitution as granting him absolute power. The Nation quotes Trump as stating: “Then I have Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” This statement of disregard for the very specific presidential powers granted in the Constitution attest to Trump’s ignorance of American government and his egocentric attitude. The fact that Trump labeled Mueller’s investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 election as a “witch hunt,” and refused to cooperate with Congress’ investigation into his collaboration with Ukraine, demonstrate that Trump truly believes that he is above the law.
According to the Federal Register from the National Archives, Trump has already issued 138 executive orders during his first term. While many disliked Obama’s frequent usage of executive orders, Obama only issued a total of 276 during both his terms. While executive orders are included in the president’s powers as the head of state, they are not a substitute for Congress’ lawmaking powers, and Trump has liberally and excessively used executive orders as an alternative to Congress’ legislative abilities. His consistent refusal to adhere to the Constitution, his refusal to cooperate with Congressional investigations, and his excessive executive orders could set a dangerous precedent of presidential abuse of power. No one is above the law.
Trump has also chosen to trust foreign dictators over his own advisors. Instead of seeking counsel from experts, Trump sets policy based on his own intuition. Since Trump has no previous political experience, and is only one person, it is outlandish to believe that he would know better than committees of experts on certain issues.
Recently, Trump has repeatedly ignored economic advisors who have strongly encouraged him not to continue with his trade war with China. Trump also famously berated (and fired) former FBI Director James Comey for performing his investigative duties.
It is dangerous enough for Trump to act without consulting agencies such as the FBI or the CIA, but on top of that, Trump has posted numerous tweets which have questioned the competence of those very agencies. His slanderous allegations shared with his American and world audience could dismantle these agencies’ credibilities. It is important that Americans are able to trust our intelligence agencies and our rule of law.
Trump disagrees with our intelligence agencies and instead rubs shoulders with foreign dictators. He expressed that since Russia’s Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 election, he would take Putin’s word over the judgement from his own intelligence community. Shockingly, after posting insults toward him on Twitter, Trump also has met with North Korea’s Kim Jung Un. Trump’s attempts to unprecedentedly negotiate with the dictator, and his later lighthearted jests about their relationship, are disheartening.
There are countless other examples of how Trump proves to be a national disgrace and a menace to our constitutional system, such as his retraction from the 2015 Paris Accord, his schoolboy-like name calling on Twitter, his lies about the attendance at his inauguration, his attempt to repeal the 14th Amendment and others. Trump is not even a true conservative; as he has helped to radically alter the GOP during his presidency. The Washington Times states that Trump changed parties at least five times since the 1980s, and his titanic spending, protectionist tariff policies and claims that global warming is a hoax are totally contrary to traditional conservative policies of fiscal responsibility, laissez-faire economics and environmental concern (such as Theodore Roosevelt’s advocacy for National Parks).
President Trump should be removed from office by the Senate, because his danger to our constitutional democracy transcends any left or right wing politics.
