Theoretically, 67 Senators could have decided that Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020 would be Donald Trump’s last day as president of the United States. The consequences of a group of elitist Senators removing a duly-elected president are so grave and can have such a profound and lasting impact on not just the separation of powers and government, but our flag and the fabric that binds our nation together. In fact, besides declaring war or sending our men and women from small-town communities into harm’s way, there is no action Congress can take that is more solemn and far-reaching. In short, this impeachment trial is not a laughing matter. For good reasons, the Senate chose to acquit the President. 

It goes without saying that Donald Trump is one of the most controversial and polarizing presidents. Conservatives love him for his defiant patriotism, chauvinism and toughness, whereas liberals are appalled over the family separation of migrants and the implementation of both travel bans and border walls. To believe that his impeachment in the House of Representatives is not at least partially based on those concerns disavows recent negative tribal partisanship. 

The first article of impeachment is baseless. It involves a separation of powers issue between the president’s authority as commander-in-chief and Congress’ expectation that the President faithfully execute the law and obey appropriations requests. It should be made clear that the President’s behavior in the Ukraine affair is condemnable, as it confirms a long train of events in which the president conducted or attempted to conduct United States policy in his personal political benefit. President Trump, through his conduct, is eroding the trust of our allies and is degrading the office of the Presidency – not just in regard to Ukraine. To indict President Trump under abuse of power because he was attempting to influence public policy against the advice of career diplomats and the bureaucracy, regardless of whether we agree or disagree with the policy proposal’s merits, is an affront to the right of the president to fulfill the mandate he received from the American people. 

The second article of impeachment is also baseless because it involves a legal dispute between the executive and legislative branches. To indict President Trump on obstruction of Congress completely ignores the President’s right to executive privilege and flies in the face of separation of powers. If the House of Representatives was serious about investigating the president’s alleged misconduct, it would have pursued a variety of measures before drafting Articles of Impeachment. These include riders in appropriations bills, challenging President Trump’s claims to executive privilege of documents and witness testimony in the courts, or in severe cases, voting to censure the president. The House of Representatives instead skipped these initial steps and rushed to approve articles of impeachment before Christmas. In fact, it took a mere 86 days from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s unilateral decree that the House of Representatives would have an impeachment inquiry to the House vote on the Articles of Impeachment. 

I fear that the House Democrats have debased presidential impeachments, and, unfortunately, have made a profound impact on our constitutional system of government for an entire generation. In fact, I would argue that they themselves should be accused of abuse of power. Now that the impeachment trial is behind us, let us hope that our leaders understand that this climate of polarization has reached rock bottom. Our “leaders” include the president here. I pray that he and Members of Congress choose reconciliation, deliberation and cooperation with each other over the politics of revenge and vindication. I unfortunately do not expect him to do that. Yet, our forebears would expect us to heed it, our children and grandchildren would expect us to abide by it and the American people deserve it. 

Greg DeLapi is a sophomore political science major from Babylon, New York.