Rick Scott announces Constitutional amendment to raise threshold for impeachment
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Fresh off the Senate impeachment trial that resulted in President Trump's acquittal, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is calling for an amendment to the Constitution that would make it more difficult for presidents to be impeached.
Scott's amendment would require a super-majority of three-fifths of the House of Representatives in order to approve articles of impeachment, instead of the current standard which is a simple majority.
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"An act as divisive as impeachment must have bipartisan backing and overwhelming support. 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."
In order to pass, a constitutional amendment must receive approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate, as well as ratification from three-fourths of all states, or 38 out of 50.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had initially said that the president should only be impeached if there is bipartisan support, but she then changed her tune and encouraged the House's impeachment inquiry despite united opposition from Republicans. After a swift trial, only Utah Sen. Mitt Romney broke ranks with Republicans by voting to convict Trump of abuse of power, while every Republican senator voted to acquit the president of the charge of obstruction of Congress.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., responded to Trump's acquittal by calling it "virtually valueless," and House Democrats have indicated that they plan on continuing to investigate the president. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., has mentioned the possibility of issuing a subpoena to former national security adviser John Bolton to discuss the president's dealings with Ukraine, and his committee remains in the midst of a legal battle to compel the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn in relation to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report.