How does a Senator start impeachment? (re: Biden's comments)

and what about all the DUers who jumped on people criticizing candidates who are Senators for not supporting Articles with the mantra "Impeachment begins in the house. She/He is a Senator!" hmm?

I'll like joe a lot more if he doesn't wait for the bombs to fall....

do whatever you're thinking now...

My guess is that he could draft articles and have a Rep introduce them. I suggest Conyers.

Perhaps the Senate could pass articles and send them to the house?

Any ideas, facts, thoughts, or links to share?

that the Senate would start an investigation or subpeona the POTUS, Defense Sec and then send a recommendation to House Judiciary?

If Biden, his staff, or you, or I want to draft up a set of articles nothing stops us, but its meaningless unles a member of Congress is willing to introduce them in his/her own name. I doubt that Conyers' failure to introduce articles on his own is due to his (and his staff) being too busy. So if Biden sent over some language, there is no reason to think it would go anywhere.

And, no, the Senate cannot pass articles and send them to the House. The Constitution is clear: the House has the sole power of impeachment and the Senate has the sole power to try impeachments.

on edit: I suppose the Senate could pass a resolution calling on the House to adopt an impeachment resolution, but it would not have any binding authority over the House and, in any event, is about as likely to happen as my becoming King of England.

Only the House can impeach

By then the war fevor will compeltely take over any thrust for impeachment.

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
Below is a partial transcript of Biden campaigning yesterday in New Hampshire, where he said that he would move to impeach Bush if he unilaterally attacks Iran.

QUESTIONER: “I have a great fear that say you’re elected as the nominee of the party. Next August sometime during the summer, Dick Cheney and George are going to bomb Iran."

BIDEN: "Legitimate concern."

QUESTIONER: "What can you do about it?”

BIDEN: “I am not one, who if you’ve observed me for some time, I am not one who’s engaged in excessive populist rhetoric. I’m not one that pits the rich against the poor. I’m not one who’s gone out there and made false threats against presidents about, and god love him he’s a great guy, I’m not Dennis Kucinich saying impeach everybody now. But let me tell you, I have written an extensive legal memorandum with the help of a group of legal scholars who are sort of a stable of people, the best-known constitutional scholars in America, because for 17 years I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

"I asked them to put together me a draft, which I’m now literally riding between towns editing, that I want to make clear and submit to the Untied States Senate pointing out the president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran. And I want to make it clear, I want it on the record, and I want to make it clear, if he does, as chairman of the foreign relations committee and former chair of the judiciary committee, I will move to impeach him."


http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/30/489166.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage

to avert any attempts to go to war with Iran. He is letting them know that it is not just an idle threat or a bluff.

Imagine that...Joe Biden telling Bush what to NOT do, LOL...

He knows what he's doing and I really trust him on this. I can hear the profanities flying in the Oval Office right now - "Who the fuck does he think he is? God damn ............ etc."

Add that to the fact that Joe is a man of his word, and they know he is dead serious.

They've got the Conference Committee thing wherein Senate and House versions of the same or similar bills are reconciled into single compromises. So they all work together at certain times. And that's just officially.

UNofficially, they all work together even more. Count on it. These are social animals. Their whole reason for being, while there, is to collect allies. Usually on legislation - seeking cosponsors, seeking votes of support, etc. They're not always IN chambers. Sometimes they're out in the hallways - where lots of other people are. People like constituents, staffers from many other Senators' and Congressmembers' offices, and there are those very other Senators and Congressmembers there, too. And they're not just in the halls. They're in the cafeteria where "Freedom Fries" were once loudly heralded on the menu. They're outside in front being interviewed by somebody. They're sharing rides. They're running into each other at airports and at cocktail parties. Hell, some of them even live together during the week before heading home for the weekend. This one is called "Taking Power, Sharing Cereal" about how Schumer and Levin (Senators) live in the same house with George Miller and William Delahunt (Congressmen) during the work week. Miller owns it and the others pay him rent. And you think they don't talk about work when they're sitting there at the end of the day sharing cereal or Chinese takeout and complaining about Schumer's lousy housekeeping?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/garden/18roomies.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

You bet they wind up together, House people AND Senate people, and doing business across the two Chambers. And their staffers do so, too, even more intensely. They're the ones apt to meet each other at the dry cleaners, the local markets, bars, clubs, workout centers, bike lanes, and taxi stands. They're the ones who are gonna lunch together or go get a drink together after hours, or run into each other in the halls and stairways. They do the scut work and they're the ones who actively interface even moreso than their bosses do. And that's even more effective, I'd suspect, because nobody's paying much attention to the staffers and underlings and secretarial people and interns, and unless they're Monica Lewinsky, or they're cute young male pages and mark foley is still lurking around somewhere, nobody knows who they are and nobody cares, and no big-ass marquee-name network correspondent is going to waste much time on those grunts when the point is to chase their big name bosses around. So even though it's quite true that it's the HOUSE that IMPEACHES, and the SENATE that tries on those IMPEACHMENT counts, neither Chamber operates in a complete vacuum, strictly isolated one from another. It's A LOT of under-the-radar schmoozing, and it's a BIG part of the way business gets done there. It's called cross-pollination, and there's TONS of it everywhere. Especially since everybody talks and everybody gossips there - about EVERYTHING.

And believe me, Biden's been around long enough to know who gets the ball rolling on IMPEACHMENT. It's who he's now actively talking to, and with what urgency, that's the main interest here.

I remember that article about Delahunt's townhouse and it gives a more humanistic picture of DC.

Great post!

I also remember that article, it was great fun

I even saw the photos in my head with Durbin at the sofa, pontificating like that. Sorry!

:silly:

I like the fact that someone has enough guts to threaten Bush-Cheney politically.