Steny Hoyer: I Understand Party Loyalty. I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This.

While we have had strong disagreements with the Trump administration on policy and have been deeply alarmed by this president’s acts of wrongdoing, we pursued an impeachment inquiry this September only after his effort to solicit Ukrainian interference in the 2020 election came to light.

Now the case for impeachment is clear. In his willingness to abuse his power, President Trump disregarded the rule of law. Many Democrats will cast difficult and courageous votes, earning themselves a place among those President John Kennedy celebrated in “Profiles of Courage.”

Republicans of courage and conscience ought to join them.

If House Republicans vote as expected, they will fail to put country first and hold the president accountable. The framers would be the first to remind us that impeachment is an assessment not only of a president’s commitment to the Constitution, but also of our own.

Each representative and senator must answer the same question: Will we allow a president — any president — to hold himself or herself above the law?

Senators, when they undertake their role as jurors, take an oath to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws.” If the House approves these articles of impeachment today, I urge senators to approach their coming trial with true impartiality, not as Democrats or Republicans, but together as Americans first.

If the Senate abdicates Congress’s power to impeach — or fails even to hold a serious trial — history will remember those senators for their failure to set party aside to preserve the rule of law.

There is still a chance for Republicans to summon the courage this moment demands. Not to do so would diminish our democracy and imperil the future of our republic.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/18/opinion/steny-hoyer-trump-impeachment.html?emc=rss&partner=rss