Congressman trying to expel Pelosi over impeachment skipped both votes to end inquiry

Louisiana Rep. Ralph Abraham (R), a staunch White House defender, has filed a resolution to expel House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from Congress over her decision to open an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump.

“Nancy Pelosi’s vicious crusade against our lawfully-elected President is nothing more than a politically-motivated witch hunt and it must be stopped,” Abraham claimed in a statement on Tuesday. “She has disgraced the people’s House and weaponized the Speaker’s gavel for her party’s political gain.”

Abraham claimed House Democrats had spent the past three years “obsessed with election meddling only to dwarf any such efforts with their own deceitful plan to nullify the 2016 election and prevent President Trump from winning in 2020.”

Last week Abraham accused Pelosi of dishonoring the Constitution “and all the brave men and women who died defending it by holding a kangaroo court and calling it an impeachment inquiry.”

Nancy Pelosi dishonors our Constitution and all the brave men and women who died defending it by holding a kangaroo court and calling it an impeachment inquiry.

— Rep. Ralph Abraham (@RepAbraham) October 2, 2019

Filing a resolution to expel a lawmaker is a virtually unprecedented step and a sharp violation of House norms.

In the history of the republic, just five lawmakers have been expelled from the House — three for fighting for the Confederacy against the United States, one for being convicted of bribery, and one for being convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, tax fraud, and racketeering. In recent decades, such resolutions, which require two-thirds support to actually expel a member, have only been introduced a handful of times and only in response to serious ethical transgressions.

Abraham notably skipped multiple votes that could have ended the impeachment process entirely, had they been successful.

On both September 25 and 27, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy forced unsuccessful recorded votes on whether to rescind the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s efforts to force the Ukrainian president to investigate his political rivals. Abraham was not present for either vote.

The Republican lawmaker, who is currently running for governor of Louisiana, has in fact missed almost half of the votes taken so far in the 116th Congress. According to ProPublica, this makes him the most absent member in the whole House of Representatives.

Louisianans will vote for governor this Saturday. If no candidate gets a majority, the top two candidates will advance to a Nov. 16 runoff. Most recent polls have found incumbent Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) with a plurality and conservative businessman Eddie Rispone (R) in second, with Abraham trailing slightly behind.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.