Impeachment Articles against Mike DeWine
On August 24, 2020, Ohio state representative John Becker, a Republican, drew up ten articles of impeachment against Republican Governor Mike DeWine, alleging that DeWine's handling of the coronavirus pandemic violated Ohio's constitution and Ohioans' civil liberties.[1][2] Three other Ohio House Republicans, including Nino Vitale, Candice Keller and Paul Zeltwanger, signed on as co-sponsors. The move was widely and immediately panned on both sides of the aisle and by legal scholars and commentators.
Reaction[edit]
The move was widely and immediately panned on both sides of the aisle and by legal scholars and commentators.[1][3][4][5] Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken "issued a scathing condemnation of the trio of conservatives",[6] calling the move “a baseless, feeble attempt at creating attention for themselves.”[3] Ohio House Speaker, Republican Bob Cupp, called it an "imprudent attempt" to cause "a state constitutional crisis".[7] Legal scholar Jonathan Entin said the proposal "means that we’ve distorted our understanding both of what impeachment is supposed to do and how people – especially, elected officials – are supposed to disagree with each other. Do we really want to say that the government can’t act in an emergency because the officials are afraid that if they do anything, they’ll be removed from office? Of course, if they don’t do anything, maybe the response is going to be ‘Well you should be impeached for not acting.'"[4] CNN's Chris Cillizza analyzed it as one of several examples of how Donald Trump had politicized public health matters to the point Republican lawmakers felt they needed to make extreme and pointless moves in order to satisfy the base.[5] [8]
Background[edit]
Mike DeWine was elected Governor of Ohio in the 2018 Ohio gubernatorial election, assuming office in January 2019. DeWine's Republican Party currently has a majority in the Ohio House of Representatives. The COVID-19 pandemic reached Ohio on March 9, 2020, at which time Governor DeWine instituted a state of emergency. DeWine's handling of the coronavirus pandemic has been widely praised,[9][10][11] but has sparked protests from citizens opposed to stay-home orders and mask requirements.[12]
Accusations within the articles[edit]
The articles accuse DeWine of implementing orders that violated the state constitution, including committing misfeasance and malfeasance, violating separation of powers in ways “tantamount to creating new laws", conspiring with Ohio Secretary of State Frank Rose to cancel the March election and illegally reschedule it, and violating Ohioans' civil liberties in ways that "promotes fear, turns neighbors against neighbors, and contracts the economy by making people fearful to leave their homes".[6] The articles also assert that "for the general population wearing face coverings, people are more likely to infect themselves with COVID-19." Health experts have called this "dangerous nonsense."[1][6]
Results[edit]
The articles never went to a vote, however, on September 1, 2020, the Ohio Congress passed House Bill 272, which states "no public official can cause an election to be conducted other than in the time, place, and manner prescribed by current law." The Ohio Senate amended the bill to include "Every Ohioan deserves confidence in knowing how our elections will be run, and that they will be able to vote in-person on Election Day." [13] [14]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Articles of impeachment drawn up against Gov. Mike DeWine over coronavirus orders". Cleveland. Cleveland. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- ↑ "Ohio lawmaker drafts articles of impeachment against Gov. DeWine over COVID-19 response". WLWT. WLWT. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Pelzer, Jeremy; clevel; .com (2020-08-24). "Articles of impeachment drawn up against Gov. Mike DeWine over coronavirus orders". cleveland. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pelzer, Jeremy; clevel; .com (2020-08-24). "The move to impeach Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: A necessary step, or a blow to democracy?". cleveland. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cillizza, Chris (26 August 2020). "Some Ohio Republicans are trying to impeach the state's GOP governor over coronavirus". CNN. Retrieved 2020-09-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Gstalter, Morgan (2020-08-25). "Ohio Republicans draft articles of impeachment against GOP governor over coronavirus orders". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
- ↑ Balmert, Jessie. "Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp opposes GOP-led effort to impeach Gov. Mike DeWine". The Enquirer. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
- ↑ "Conservative lawmaker says Ohio governor should be impeached". Fox News. Fox News. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ↑ Basu, Zachary. "States order bars and restaurants to close due to coronavirus". Axios. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Witte, Griff; Zezima, Katie (16 March 2020). "Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's coronavirus response has become a national guide to the crisis". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Budryk, Zack (2020-03-16). "Ohio announces liquor buyback program to support bars and restaurants". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
- ↑ "Photos: Protests over stay-at-home orders at Ohio Statehouse protests". April 18, 2020.
- ↑ "Ohio lawmakers pass bill limiting Gov. DeWine's power to change elections, close houses of worship". Fox 19. Fox 19. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- ↑ "Ohio Senate lists 7 coronavirus bills the House ignored before group announced articles to impeach Gov. Mike DeWine". Cleveland News. Cleveland News. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
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