Trump impeachment ignites GOP civil war

Donald Trump, the most divisive president in American history, has now ignited a civil war within the Republican Party.

Impeachment now engulfs official Washington. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnnell (R-Ky.) suggests the president committed an impeachable offense, and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.), who chairs the House Republican Conference, has joined the forces supporting impeachment with a powerful denunciation of the president. 

Trump may be under investigation for his role surrounding the violent attack against the Capitol last Wednesday. Some Trump supporters are launching attacks against prominent Republicans who criticize the president.

A growing number of Cabinet members and White House staff have recently resigned, with rumors swirling that others wanted to step down but were persuaded to remain to protect the national security of America. 

Major American companies have announced they will not make campaign donations to Republicans who voted last week against ratifying the Electoral College results. 

And as I predicted in a recent column, Trump’s behavior in the Georgia Senate runoffs backfired and led to the election of two Democratic Senate candidates and the transfer of power from a Republican Senate to a Democratic Senate. 

Approval of Trump has collapsed, with the Real Clear Politics summary of polling showing 40.1 percent approval and 57.1 percent disapproval, with much of the most recent polls suggesting a continuing decline. 

Two potential presidential candidates in 2024, GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, are facing major condemnation from leading newspapers in their states — and in my view, the decimation and destruction of their presidential prospects. 

The GOP is furious that in the four years of the Trump presidency, Republicans have lost control of the House, the Senate and the White House.

While the investigation of the Capitol attack last week is proceeding, Democrats and Republicans in Washington and state capitals in all 50 states are receiving briefings about potential life-endangering attacks in the days leading up to the Biden inauguration.

And as the end of the Trump presidency will imminently arrive, through one means or another, many Republicans are just as alarmed and outraged as Democrats at the real prospect of Trump granting pardons to himself and/or his family members.

Republicans in the House and Senate have endangered their party and our country by their unquestioning support for Trump, seemingly motivated by political fear.

Trump and the Trump impeachment have led to the most divisive president in American history creating the most extreme divisions between elected Republicans and many voters in their states and districts, between members of the conservative and Republican media, and between elected Republicans and major Republican-friendly campaign donors.

The brewing civil war within the Republican Party opens big questions about the future of their party, and of the country as a whole.

Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.