You play me, I play you - let's take a look at the miraculous achievements of both parties in the United States - Speaker of the House of Representatives | United States

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 13th - You play me, I play you - Let's see the miraculous achievements of the two parties in the United States in "playing" and "pointing"

Xinhua News Agency reporter Song Ying and Zhu Ruiqing

On September 12th, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and Republican, McCarthy, told the media that he has requested relevant House committees to initiate a formal impeachment investigation into President Biden. This is a photo of McCarthy answering questions from reporters at the White House in Washington, USA. Shen Jizhong

On the 12th local time in the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Republican, McCarthy, announced that he has requested relevant House committees to initiate a formal impeachment investigation into President Biden. White House spokesperson Ian Sams denied the allegations against Biden on social media that day, criticizing the Republican move as "the worst extreme politics.".

In recent years, the political arena in the United States has repeatedly broken history, with party struggles escalating and the president being impeached one after another, and mutual accusations becoming commonplace. Previously, former Republican President Trump was impeached twice during his tenure by the Democratic controlled House of Representatives. Now, after the change of control in the House of Representatives among Republicans, it is the turn of Democratic President Biden to face impeachment investigations.

Analysts point out that the US political arena has long been deeply embroiled in party struggles. As the 2024 election campaign continues to advance, the mutual criticism between the Democratic and Republican parties has intensified, with accusations and attacks targeting major candidates such as Biden and Trump. The political divide in the United States has become polarized, and the internal corruption of American style democracy has been exposed.

The result is not important, just "bounce" it

McCarthy announced on the 12th that Republicans in the House of Representatives have found that President Biden's actions are suspected of "abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption" in an investigation into his son Hunter Biden's overseas transactions. The House will further launch an impeachment investigation into this matter.

Impeachment investigation is a procedural step before impeaching the President. According to relevant procedures, after the House of Representatives completes the impeachment investigation, if it is determined that the President has committed illegal acts, an impeachment clause should be formed to prosecute the President. According to the law, the impeachment clause must first obtain the approval of a simple majority of members of the House of Representatives, and then must also receive support from more than two-thirds of the senators.

In 2019, the Democratic controlled House of Representatives voted to pass two impeachment clauses against President Trump, formally accusing him of abusing power and obstructing Congress. This impeachment was blocked by the Senate, which was then controlled by the Republican Party, in February 2020. Trump faced a second impeachment on the eve of his resignation in 2021 due to the Capitol building riots. The Senate was then controlled by the Democratic Party, but was abandoned due to less than two-thirds of the support.

Democrats have responded that the Republican move is aimed at diverting public attention from the difficulty of reaching a consensus on the government budget in the House of Representatives, while reducing the judicial pressure faced by Trump due to criminal charges and attempting to make impeachment a huge obstacle to Biden's re-election campaign. Senate Majority Leader and Democrat Chuck Schumer directly criticized the impeachment investigation as a "ridiculous move.".

On April 24th, US President Biden attended an event at the White House in Washington, D.C. Shen Jizhong

Rare to ordinary

Looking back, impeachment of a president was very rare in the nearly 250 year history of the United States and was referred to as a "groundbreaking moment" by CNN.

Before Trump, the 17th President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, and the 42nd President, Bill Clinton, were impeached by the House of Representatives in 1868 and 1998 respectively, but were not convicted or dismissed by the Senate. In 1974, the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon, announced his resignation before the House of Representatives voted on the impeachment clause against him.

But in recent years, as Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has said, the threshold for impeachment of the president has become increasingly low.

American politicians are no longer satisfied with competing on issues such as immigration, healthcare, and abortion, nor are they competing for a particular government position. Instead, they are directly targeting the presidency.

Impeachment is used alternately by politicians from both parties, becoming a political weapon to attack each other. Despite facing multiple criminal charges, Trump, who was once threatened with impeachment, also called on Republicans in Congress to investigate Biden during this July's election campaign.

Republican Congressman Don Bacon said, "We cannot use impeachment as a weapon to attack every president." But in fact, that is already the case.

This is a photo of President Trump attending a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA on September 3, 2020. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie

Entering the era of permanent impeachment

"Has the threat of impeachment become the new norm?" The American magazine One Week questioned. The answer given by The Washington Post is: "The era of permanent presidential impeachment has arrived."

Analysts point out that impeachment has become a tool for the two parties to fight against each other, reflecting a profound change in the political ecology of the United States. Politicians are constantly increasing their attacks and smearing of their political opponents by disregarding the interests of the people in order to gain political chips, and their means are constantly breaking through the bottom line. Nowadays, Washington is filled with accusations and arguments every day, and political tensions are intensifying. The entire political system is heading towards greater failure.

According to an article published by the American news website Acxios, if impeachment loses its taboo and becomes another partisan tool that affects elections and fundraising, the effectiveness of this system will be weakened, leading to further polarization between the Republican and Democratic parties.

CNN also believes that people feel that the impeachment against Biden is more like an inevitable consequence of the pathological politics in the United States.

A commentary article on the website of The Washington Post points out that in a country like the United States, which is increasingly difficult to find a common ground, many Americans can agree on this issue: the political system in the United States has collapsed.