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Impeach the Rummy?
On tonight’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” there was a question about whether it’s possible to impeach the Secretary of Defense. This came up in response to Rummy’s recent remarks (what some might call intellectually unenlightened, while others might call borderline fascist) that any critics of the administration are simply dangerous folks suffering from “moral or intellectual confusion.”
In any event, the last sentence of Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution says that “[t]he House of Representatives…shall have the sole power of impeachment.” We all learned about this a while ago, in the context of dress stains and cigars. But the question is, can the House exercise this power against Rummy? Well Article II, Section 4 lists who can be impeached for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” and this list includes “all civil officers of the United States.”
And because Rummy is a civil officer of the U.S. he can, in fact, be impeached. At least, from a procedural stance. Whether or not he has actually done something that reaches to the level of treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors is a polarized political discussion that I don’t feel like starting right now.
And for the curious out there, a cursory internet search shows that along with Clinton’s recent impeachment and the impeachment of a dozen-odd judges, a cabinent member has, in fact, been impeached before. In 1876, Secretary of War William W. Belknap was impeached (but not convicted by the Senate) for bribery.
