Minimum Requirements
All kinds of people complain about immigrants not making an effort to learn English or learn about the United States. I think before we complain about newcomers we need to make it a rule that you have to read and understand the Constitution before you can run for Federal office.
I can’t remember the first place I saw this today but Josh Marshall covers the situation in Dog Ate My Constitution: a member of Congress apparently unaware that in addition to the President and Vice President every Federal office holder subject to Senate confirmation is also subject to impeachment.
The congresscritter in question is Ellen Tauscher [DLC-CA10], the chairperson of the New Democrat Coalition, the DLC cell in Congress. I don’t know which would be worse: she didn’t know, or she’s looking for an excuse not to act.
Congress has never had to impeach a member of the Cabinet before, because they usually had the sense to resign, or the President had the sense to fire them. The Hedgemony has no sense, so impeachment has to be rolled out.
Update: Michael of Musing’s musings notes that, in fact, even after he resigned, Congress went forward with the impeachment of U.S. Grant’s Secretary of War, William Belknap, in 1876 but none of the five counts received the two-thirds votes of the Senate necessary.
2 comments
No, actually, they did have to impeach a cabinet member. It was William Belknap, the Secretary of War in Ulysses S. Grant’s administration. Belknap resigned just before the House passed the articles; the House went ahead and passed them anyway, and the Senate heard the trial in 1876. They got a majority vote in favor on each of the five articles, but none received the necessary two-thirds supermajority, so Belknap was acquitted.
Aha, I’ll edit to reflect that. It didn’t register because he wasn’t convicted.