r/politics • u/RB_Reich Robert Reich • Sep 26 '19

Let’s talk about impeachment! I'm Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, author, professor, and co-founder of Inequality Media. AMA. AMA-Finished

I'm Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor for President Clinton and Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. I also co-founded Inequality Media in 2014.

Earlier this year, we made a video on the impeachment process: The Impeachment Process Explained

Please have a look and subscribe to our channel for weekly videos. (My colleagues are telling me I should say, “Smash that subscribe button,” but that sounds rather violent to me.)

Let’s talk about impeachment, the primaries, or anything else you want to discuss.

Proof: https://i.imgur.com/tiGP0tL.jpg

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u/RB_Reich Robert Reich Sep 26 '19

No. The Constitution gives authority to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to preside over a Senate impeachment hearing.

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '19

Fun fact: The only place in the Constitution that indicates that the Supreme Court has to have a Chief Justice is with respect to impeachment

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u/protekt0r New Mexico Sep 26 '19

Interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing.

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u/elfchica Florida Sep 26 '19

And..its John Roberts

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u/thoughtsforgotten Sep 26 '19

Is the implication of that good or bad?

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '19

It's a mild bad. He is a conservative and usually votes with conservatives. However, he seems the least political of the conservative justices. He is no Kavanaugh

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u/[deleted] Sep 27 '19

Roberts sees the long game. He plans to be around a lot longer than Trump, and will at least act in his own best interests.

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u/[deleted] Sep 27 '19

Good summary

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u/FriendOfDrBob Sep 26 '19

Learning is fun.

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u/protekt0r New Mexico Sep 26 '19

Thank the heavens for that! Although I disagree with Chief Roberts on many of his views, I do find him to be a faithful defender of the Constitution and a patriot.

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u/spiderlanewales Ohio Sep 27 '19

This is where a hardcore "constitutionalist" might come in handy. SCOTUS justices have nothing to lose, they're appointed for life, it shouldn't matter to them who appointed them.

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u/Iamien Indiana Sep 26 '19

The constitution says that only the senate CAN hold Senate impeachment hearing. it never says they have to or SHALL, correct?

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u/thedrew Sep 26 '19

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

5 "shall"s, 0 "can"s.

McConnell and Roberts would have latitude to coordinate their schedules when scheduling the hearing. But McConnell could not postpone scheduling indefinitely.

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u/theferrit32 North Carolina Sep 26 '19

When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation

Also says the Senators are not allowed to lie during the impeachment session(s). That will be interesting to see. If nothing else, we might get some juicy perjury charges out of it.

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u/spader1 New York Sep 26 '19

I dunno. "Shall have the sole power" isn't the same as "shall." I can see a certain someone making the case that having the power delegated to the Senate doesn't compel it to actually use said power.

He's already done that once.

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u/walmartsucksmassived Sep 26 '19

The Senate shall (emphasis mine) have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. —Article I, Section 3, Clauses 6 and 7

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u/chownrootroot Sep 26 '19

Sadly, yes (I think). The Constitution Article 1 Section 3:

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.

It says the Senate has the power to try (conduct a trial) of impeachments but it has no requirement to actually conduct such a trial. McConnell used such similar logic that when Obama nominated Garland, it wasn't required by the Constitution to even have any vote whatsoever on his nomination, so no doubt he could use such logic again.

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u/_treasonistrump- Sep 26 '19

But McConnel would still need to schedule the trial, and set the rules for the trial.

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u/feedmecheesedoodles Sep 26 '19

It's already outlined in the constitution so him pulling any games would stand out.

He's up for election, it would be interesting to see what his move is.

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u/bengringo2 Sep 27 '19

He's up for re-election in Kentucky. He could burn a cross on the senate floor and it would probably give him an election bump. His electorate loves this owning the lib's shit.

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u/UncleTogie Sep 27 '19

The way he's been dissing the miners in Kentucky has has not been winning him many friends recently.

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u/Aggressive_Dimension America Sep 26 '19

I think he effectively can. The senate shall have sole power of impeachment trial. McConnell can decide that means the trial is him saying "no collusion". Done.

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u/TrumpsterFire2019 America Sep 26 '19

Do you think John Roberts will block it?

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u/harveytaylorbridge Sep 26 '19

What would be in it for Roberts? He has his job for life, it's McConnell that is up for reelection in 2020.

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u/TrumpsterFire2019 America Sep 26 '19

I think he might be part of the fix for the gop.