A Republican state representative in Michigan called on the state’s GOP-controlled legislature to impeach Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after she reimplemented a three-week long shutdown.
Matt Maddock said he and several other legislators are calling “for impeachment hearings for Governor Whitmer,” citing a “long list of violations.”
Today, myself and a growing list of Michigan Legislators have decided that @GovWhitmer has crossed the line and will be calling for #ImpeachWhitmer hearings. The list of violations is long and the call is overdue #MIGOP #MILEG
— Matt Maddock (@matthewmaddock) November 16, 2020
Maddock referenced the state Supreme Court’s decision striking down Whitmer’s emergency orders in October, which she has continued to defy.
The ruling found that Whitmer had no authority to extend her emergency declaration past April 30 under the state’s 1976 Emergency Management Act.
Whitmer, however, warned that she would continue to use her emergency powers anyway under “alternative sources of authority not at issue” in the ruling.
She did just that on Sunday night when she announced new COVID-19 restrictions forcing in-person dining, class-based gyms, casinos, movie theaters, schools, and colleges to shut down for at least three weeks.
Maddock has not said when impeachment proceedings might proceed, but Whitmer’s office dismissed the threat in a statement on Monday.
“Governor Whitmer doesn’t have any time for partisan politics or people who don’t wear masks, don’t believe in science, and don’t have a plan to fight this virus. Right now, she is focused on saving lives. The governor will continue to work hard for all 10 million Michiganders. This is about Michigan vs. COVID-19,” the governor’s press secretary, Tiffany Brown, said.
