Minnesota Republicans to vote against impeaching President Trump
Minnesota Republican members of Congress remain opposed to impeachment efforts against President Donald Trump, who Democrats say incited a violent insurrection at the Capitol last week.
Reps. Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Jim Hagedorn and Pete Stauber have all come out against the article of impeachment introduced by Democrats in the House of Representatives Monday. The article asserts that Trump incited the insurrection through his rhetoric and continued unfounded allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
The insurrection came the same day that Congress certified President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college win. Despite the violence, Fischbach (CD-7) and Hagedorn (CD-1) voted to object to election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
MPR political reporter Brian Bakst obtained statements from all four Republican members of Minnesota’s Congressional delegation. They all said they intended to vote no on the article of impeachment, which the House is expected to take up Wednesday.
The opposition from Minnesota's Republican delegation comes despite a growing number of GOPers supporting impeachment, among them House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly supports the effort, though he has not indicated whether he would vote in favor.
Emmer, who also chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, called impeachment efforts divisive, but condemned the actions at the Capitol.
“We must come together to heal our nation, but House Democrats’ latest attempts to remove the president from office will further divide us,” Emmer said in a statement.
Minnesota Democrats have been supportive of impeachment efforts, with Rep. Ilhan Omar even introducing her own articles of impeachment. Omar’s articles are not being taken up, but she, along with the other three Democrats from Minnesota, have signed onto the article being voted on.
“Together, we will hold this president accountable and restore our democracy,” Omar said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the House also voted on a resolution asking Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Pence has rejected the effort in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the New York Times.
Hagedorn, who voted against the resolution, was also critical of the effort.
“On January 20th, a new president will be sworn in. President-elect Biden and other Democrats have called for national unity,” Hagedorn said in a statement.
“Yet, House Democrats are focused on futile efforts to force cabinet officers to deploy a process that has been used far more often in television dramas than in real life. Such a maneuver is divisive and not appropriate in this case.”
