‘They know what they are doing is wrong, but they put themselves far ahead of our great country…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., announced on Thursday that he will propose a constitutional amendment that will raise the threshold for passing articles of impeachment in the House.
Just one day after the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump from both of the House’s charges, Scott said he wants to make sure that Congress cannot do to a future president what the Democratic-controlled House did to Trump.
Democratic leadership groundlessly used impeachment “as a tool to hurt President Trump,” he said, and as a result, “the process has to change.”
“It should be harder—much harder—for either political party to take the process our Founders created as a last resort against a tyrannical leader and use it instead as a tool for the tyranny of a political majority,” Scott said in a statement. “I look forward to all of my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, joining me in this effort to protect the integrity of our nation and our constitution.”
Scott’s proposed amendment would change the House’s threshold from a simple majority to a three-fifths majority.
However, it’s unlikely Scott’s amendment will pass. A constitutional amendment must receive two-thirds approval in both the House and the Senate, and then three-fourths of the states must affirm the proposed amendment.
Regardless, Scott’s proposal is just one example of how Republicans plan to respond to the Democrats’ impeachment efforts. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said this week that Republicans also plan to expunge official records of Trump’s impeachment if they retake the House this November.
“This is the fastest, weakest, most political impeachment in history,” McCarthy told the New York Post. “I don’t think it should stay on the books.”
Trump also teased the possibility of retribution at Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast.
“They have done everything possible to destroy us and by so doing, very badly hurt our nation,” he said. “They know what they are doing is wrong, but they put themselves far ahead of our great country.”
Seated a few seats down from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the president said he would do his best, despite the irreparable damage to their relationship, to move forward constructively with House Democrats on bipartisan initiatives.
“When they impeach you for nothing, then you’re supposed to like them? It’s not easy, folks,” he said.