Who Are the Rogue Republicans?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns rogue Republicans and the tit-for-tat relationship that President Donald Trump has with Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT). It looks to me like Romney is just a sore loser who may be getting more than he wants by picking a fight with streetfighter Trump. The following information was printed in the Deseret News and serves as just one example of the back-and-forth provocations.

Romney and Trump have had a strained relationship since Romney lost the 2012 presidential election to President Barack Obama. When it appeared Trump was going to win the GOP nomination in 2016, Romney gave a speech at the University of Utah, calling Trump a fraud and phony.

Trump endorsed Romney’s Senate campaign, but the day before the senator was sworn in he wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post saying Trump “has not risen to the mantle of the office.”

            Like Hillary Clinton, it seems that Romney cannot give up the idea that Trump won the presidential office after he (Romney) failed to do so. Trump was nice enough to endorse Romney for the Senate, but Romney turned around and stabbed Trump in the back – and he continues to do so. It seems that Romney took over where former Arizona Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain left off.  McCain was considered a maverick because he roamed far and wide in his votes and could never be trusted, but Flake was just a loser who seems to be enjoying his 15 minutes of fame in denigrating Trump. 

I believe that both Romney and Flake will soon be forgotten in history, or they will be remembered for their disloyalty to Republicans. The people of Arizona were wise enough to get rid of Flake, but only time will tell what Utah does. I hope the Deseret News was correct when it says, “A July survey by Utah Policy showed Romney with a 38% job approval rating.” Hopefully, his rating will continue to go down, and Utah will send a better representative to Washington next time. In my opinion, Romney ranks with Senator Liza Murkowski (R-AK) as being Republican-in-name-only (RINOs). Utah should get him out of office before he becomes entrenched there. Murkowski has been there long enough that she is likely to stay in office.

It is bad that Senators and Representatives cannot be impeached because there are several of them that deserve to be fired. According to the Constitution, impeachment applies only to the executive branch and the judicial branch. However, there are rules in the Constitution for punishing members of Congress. Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 says, “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.”

Even though the Senate and the House of Representatives have slightly different rules, both Houses of Congress can expel a member of their House by a two-thirds vote. David F. Forte wrote the following about this clause: “The Rules and Expulsion Clause stands as the analog to the impeachment clauses. It is the only constitutional mechanism by which a sitting Member of Congress can be removed from office.”

With all the corruption in both the Senate and the House, I do not expect to see any members of Congress expelled for bad behavior unless Trump is successful in “draining the swamp.” None of the Democrats who are in the forefront and calling for Trump’s impeachment deserve to be in Congress, but they are supported by people just like them.