Special Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to WH Counsel’s Office Ian Sams is amplifying videos of Republican Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO) lambasting the logic behind the MAGA GOP effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Buck says that the evidence Republicans are acting on represents a “policy difference,” not an impeachable offense.
Speaking his mind and standing mostly isolated in his party against Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s impeachment maneuver — and also, notably, against House Republicans’ efforts to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) — Buck is drawing ire from his GOP colleagues and attention from the media for his contrarianism.
Buck makes clear that he believes the border situation is a “crisis,” but the Congressman contends that the impeachment of a cabinet secretary sets a terrible precedent that will lead to additional crises, making governing — often already at an impasse — more difficult in the future. Buck is especially concerned about how such a weapon, normalized as an option now, would haunt future Republican presidents subject to Democrats’ policy disagreements.
Asked if the move could backfire even before such time as a Republican president is elected, Buck warns that yes, he believes so. “It will be looked at as a political gimmick. A stunt,” he says. “I don’t believe it will be taken seriously by the American public.”
MORE from Republican Rep. Ken Buck on Mayorkas impeachment:
— Ian Sams (@IanSams46) February 1, 2024
“It will be looked at as a political gimmick. I don’t believe it will be taken seriously by the American public. It is a stunt.”
“We should be more concerned about dealing with new legislation on the border crisis.” pic.twitter.com/Z8RCgWVwXk
Buck also questions how effective even a strong result would be for Republicans — noting that even if impeachment worked, and the Senate convicted Mayorkas (“which is very unlikely”), President Biden would simply “appoint someone else who agreed with his policies.”
Sams has many potential reasons for amplifying Buck’s reply, but not least appears be the fact that Buck’s clear articulation of the pyrrhic nature of any Mayorkas impeachment victory communicates something essential about the folly of the process as seen from a Democrat perspective.
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