On Sept. 24, the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, announced the start of a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Naturally, “impeachment” and “#impeachtrump” were quickly trending on Twitter, which has become a popular place for the president to speak his mind. However, what does any of this really mean?

If Trump were to be impeached, he would become only the third president to formally be removed from office, along with Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. As explained by ABC7 news, “Impeachment is a political process in which any civil officer, including a president and vice president, can be removed from office ‘for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,’ according to the Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.” USA Today explains Pelosi was motivated to initiate this process when Trump was accused of using “approved military aid as leverage to demand that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who has generally led in Democratic primary polling”. This gross misuse of power could potentially be proof of Trump’s attempt to influence the upcoming election and, therefore, may be his ultimate downfall. 

After talking to classmates about the situation, many agreed that there simply is not enough time left in Trump’s current term for him to be impeached before his presidency ends. Is that really true though?

According to the Los Angeles Times, “Democratic leaders have hinted that it will take weeks, a few months at most. They don’t want to drag this out too long and lose public interest. Democrats might want to file articles of impeachment by the end of the year to lessen the appearance that they are trying to influence the 2020 presidential election, and to reduce how much time their 2020 nominee has to spend time talking about it.” This sounds promising, but politicians are not always great at keeping promises.

Whether this process moves along or not, Trump’s presidency has certainly kept news sources busy, now more than ever. Various news websites are promoting live updates of the Trump impeachment inquiry, such as CNN, The Washington Post, and CBS News, just to name a few. The news stories since Trump entered office have felt nonstop, just like his tweets. As mentioned previously, Twitter has become commonplace for Trump to speak his mind, which is evident by the six tweets posted within the time I have written this article. I don’t think I have ever tweeted more than once a week. 

Although Trump’s use of social media is frequently criticized, with the way technology is at our fingertips, perhaps this is a positive way for the President to remain in touch with the citizens of America. Although I personally think he should spend more time considering what he types before pressing send, I still feel there is potential. After all, Franklin D. Roosevelt created “Fireside Chats” where he gave addresses over the radio, and Barack Obama posted several YouTube videos about various relevant topics. While I do not think Trump has used technology as eloquently as the other two presidents mentioned, I do feel the goal is similar: to reach and establish a connection with the American people. 

Whether Trump is impeached or not, surely there will be plenty of tweets and news articles to keep us all hooked throughout the process. 

Image courtesy of WBUR.org