Even as a kid, he sensed that it was trouble for the country. Meijer’s first political memory was made watching the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Growing up, he’d heard the legend of how a family friend, President Gerald Ford, had pardoned Richard Nixon in an act of mercy after Nixon had resigned to avoid the humiliation of being impeached and removed. He felt that impeachment was warranted-“The vice president and the next two in the line of succession were inside the Capitol as it was being assaulted,” he says, “and for three hours the president was nowhere to be found”-but he longed for a dialogue. Barreling toward one of the most consequential votes in modern history, everyone was on their own.įor Meijer, the stillness was unsettling. There were no whipping efforts, no strategy sessions, no lectures on procedure or policy. But those conversations never happened: Most of Trump’s staunchest defenders were too shell-shocked to defend him, even behind closed doors, and the Republican leadership in the House was once again AWOL. The next week, when Democrats introduced an article of impeachment and promptly scheduled a vote, seeking to hold President Donald Trump accountable for inciting the mob’s siege of the Capitol, Meijer steeled himself for some tough conversations within his party. His party’s leadership had provided no guidance to its members, leaving everyone to navigate a squall of rumor and disinformation in one-man lifeboats. That entire day-the vote, as much as the attack-had caught Meijer unprepared. The majority of his fellow House Republicans refused to certify the results, launching an assault on the legitimacy of American democracy. It was his first real act as a federal lawmaker-one he believed was perfunctory. Once the Capitol was secured, he cast his vote to certify the election results. Meijer had been on the job for all of three days. They were attempting to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. House of Representatives as insurgents broke into the lower chamber. Six days earlier, Meijer had pulled a smoke hood over his face and fled the U.S. Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
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