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Hello,
Teaching civics at Clara Barton High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., was some of the most important work I have ever done. Like social studies teachers all over this nation, I felt a deep sense of pride and patriotism watching my students light up as they recognized our framers’ brilliance in creating three coequal branches of government and their own personal power as citizens.
Public education has long been a pillar of our democracy, and teachers have an important role as defenders of that democracy. In today’s U.S. government classes, you can be sure that students are learning about the constitutional checks and balances built into our system, including the constitutional duty of our duly elected representatives to impeach a president for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Unfortunately, that constitutional obligation seems to be forgotten by too many of our elected officials.
The facts are clear: President Trump abused his power by pressuring a foreign country to interfere in the 2020 election. He has betrayed his oath of office, betrayed our national security and betrayed the integrity of our elections for his own personal political gain.
I have been reluctant to weigh in on this matter. While we have been offended by many of this president’s acts, we have not called for his impeachment or removal from office because we understand the gravity of this troubling moment for our nation.
Even after the AFT executive council issued a resolution in support of an investigation into whether withholding promised military aid from Ukraine unless it agreed to slander the president’s political opponent was a potential violation of the law, we suspended judgment, waiting for the evidence to be presented.
Now the evidence has been put forward in a public forum, and it’s unambiguous: Trump withheld military aid and a White House meeting as leverage to push Ukraine to smear his political rival. Furthermore, he has obstructed justice with his efforts to block Congress’ constitutional investigation.
Trump solicited a bribe and shook down the Ukrainian president for his own personal political gain, and that is an abuse of power. Trump’s actions jeopardize our national security and invite even more foreign interference into our elections. And in the words of legal scholar Michael Gerhardt, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who testified yesterday before the House Judiciary Committee:
The president’s serious misconduct, including bribery, soliciting a personal favor from a foreign leader in exchange for his exercise of power, and obstructing justice and Congress, [is] worse than the misconduct of any prior president, including what previous presidents who faced impeachment have done or been accused of doing. … If Congress fails to impeach here, then the impeachment process has lost all meaning, and, along with that, our Constitution’s carefully crafted safeguards against the establishment of a king on American soil. No one, not even the president, is beyond the reach of our Constitution and our laws.
The simple fact is, no one is above the law. Not you or me, and certainly not the president.
The path forward is clear: Congress must uphold its constitutional obligation as a check and balance on the president and vote to hold the president accountable for his abuse of power. Our students are watching, and the future of our democracy depends on our actions today.
Thank you for all you do to uphold the principles of our democracy.
In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President
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