A Waste of Time and Energy
When lawmakers returned for legislative session after the extended work period, House Democrats had an opportunity to turn a new leaf and actually get things done for the American people. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on areas where bipartisan cooperation is possible, Democrats remain fixated on dead-end investigations and igniting baseless impeachment inquiries.
Interestingly, Democrats aren’t even in agreement on the status of impeachment. While Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler has insisted that such proceedings are underway, Speaker Nancy Pelosi contends that Democrats are not pursuing impeachment. Despite divisions in the Democratic Caucus that includes a radical wing that wants to impeach and a more moderate wing that wishes to avoid the issue, they can’t have it both ways.
This raises the question: Which one is it? Again, it depends on who you ask.
Two weeks ago, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee essentially claimed the impeachment process was underway with the appearance and testimony of the president’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. This claim has been disputed by various members of the Democratic House leadership team.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the Judiciary Committee has brought in high-profile witnesses for questioning regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Judiciary Democrats have also sought testimony from former FBI Director James Comey and former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Though some embarrassing information may have been revealed, neither could prove collusion or uncover an impeachable offense by the president. And quite frankly, this should be good news for the United States and its citizens.
Sadly, Democrats seem disappointed by the results of their futile investigations and even more intent on finding wrongdoing somewhere by someone. For example, Democrats were quick to strike after allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh were reported by the New York Times, which omitted the fact that the supposed victim had no recollection of any such incident. Even after the publication corrected the article to reflect the omission, some Democrats have still called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment from the Court.
Rather than waste time on fruitless investigations and impeachment threats, the American people would be much better served if lawmakers would legislate. Certainly, there is plenty of room for bipartisanship on many pressing issues – like trade, drug pricing, immigration reform, border security and funding the government.
But if Democrats continue to go down the impeachment rabbit hole, American businesses will continue to miss out on the benefits of trade agreements like USMCA, prescription drugs will continue to be outrageously expensive and the situation at the southern border is likely to get worse rather than better. Surely Congress can do better than that.
Tom Cole, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, is serving
his eighth term in Congress as the elected representative of Oklahoma's 4th
Congressional District. He is recognized as an advocate for taxpayers and small
business, a proponent for a strong national defense and a leader in promoting
biomedical research. He is considered the foremost expert in the House on issues
dealing with Native Americans and tribal governments. He and his wife, Ellen,
have one son, Mason, and reside in Moore, Oklahoma.
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