The impeachment process is the primary method the United States Congress may use to hold a sitting president accountable for misconduct. However, because the current Congress is split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans, and because we are operating in a hyper-partisan environment, it is difficult to imagine two-thirds of the U.S. Senate convicting a president through the impeachment process. Too many Senators would need to take action against the de facto leader of their own party. Removal of a U.S. president via impeachment and conviction has never occurred, and it is unlikely to happen anytime soon. For this reason, in our current political environment a president would likely only face accountability for criminal acts after leaving office. If the president self-pardoned at the conclusion of his time in office, a post-presidential prosecution of the crimes he committed during his administration’s tenure could be blocked. The plausibility of this scenario is why a constitutional amendment limiting the president’s pardon power is needed to deter executive misconduct.
Month: January 2019
The French Declare the Right to Disconnect from the Office
A recent French law gives workers the right to disconnect from their digital devices when off-work. This is an intriguing idea that other industrialized nations should consider imitating.
Some advocates cite the constant potential of immediate work obligations as contributing to greater levels of anxiety and burnout among modern workers. I can speak from personal experience about the alarm one feels upon receiving an urgent work-related e-mail at 7:15 in the evening. Plans have to be changed, and the few hours of free time at the end of the day are forfeited.
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