Sen. Richard Shelby Signs Resolution Condemning Pelosi’s Impeachment Tactics
One day after Senator Doug Jones tweeted a video, giving his latest thoughts on the impeachment process against President Trump, Senator Richard Shelby tweeted that he had signed a resolution condemning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for withholding the articles of impeachment from the Senate.
“Today I joined a resolution with 26 of my colleagues condemning the House of Representatives for withholding the Articles of Impeachment. The speaker’s actions are currently inconsistent with the Constitution. @POTUS and the American people deserve better.” tweeted Shelby.
The resolution is authored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and states “the sense of the Senate that the House of Representatives should, consistent with its constitutional obligations, immediately transmit the 2 articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump passed by the House of Representatives on December 18, 2019, under House Resolution 755.”
The resolution outlines that “since passage [of the impeachment resolution], the Speaker of the House of Representatives has refused to transmit the articles to the Senate unless the Senate agrees to allow the Speaker of the House of Representatives to dictate the rules of a trial.”
“[T]he Constitution of the United States does not provide the Speaker of the House of Representatives with the power to effectively veto a resolution passed by a duly elected majority of the House of Representatives by refusing to transmit such a resolution to the Senate,” the resolution continues. “[T]he refusal by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to transmit the articles is a flagrant violation of the separation of powers expressly outlined in the bicameral impeachment process under the Constitution of the United States.”
The resolution subsequently decries that “this inaction by the Speaker of the House of Representatives is a gross infringement on the constitutional authority of the Senate to try impeachments…the refusal by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to transmit the articles is unprecedented for presidential impeachments… refusing to transmit the articles is resulting in the denial of President Trump’s day in court; and… if allowed to stand, this inaction by the Speaker of the House of Representatives would set a dangerous precedent for the constitutional system of Government in the United States.”
Dakota Layton graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. He is currently enrolled at the University of Mississippi where he is working to earn his Master of Arts in Philosophy.
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