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Articles, ban, Congress, Green, Impeachment, muslim, president, Representative, resolution, roberts, sotomayor, supreme court, travel, trump
The Supreme Court held, yesterday, that the Trump Administration’s travel ban had “sufficient national security justification to survive a rational basis review,” and that therefore it would reverse the preliminary injunction granted by the District Court. This is an indication that the travel ban is constitutional, and allows it to go forth unhindered, at least for the time being. Because the travel ban has been cited in at least Representative Green’s impeachment resolution as evidence of the President’s “bigotry,” one might wonder what effect this decision will have on the President’s chances of impeachment.
While it could be argued that the Supreme Court decision could set some, perhaps ethereal, precedent, it is still Congress that decides whether the President will be removed. And while the Supreme Court’s decision could in some way be construed as an endorsement of the executive order, so too can Justice Sotomayor’s dissent remind Congress of the reason the travel ban was cited as an impeachable offense in the first place: “[the] appearance of discrimination that the President’s words have created.” Though Trump’s “muslim ban,” may have been rolled back enough to be constitutional, it can still evidence the President’s bigotry, and therefore could still contribute to his impeachment.
Andrew Harnik/AP