Michigan Rep. Justin Amash quit the Republican Party in a July 4 op-ed in The Washington Post, just weeks after calling for President Trump’s impeachment.
Amash, the son of a Palestinian refugee, wrote that he was a lifelong Republican like his parents because “the party, I believed, stood for limited government, economic freedom and individual liberty.”
“In recent years, though, I’ve become disenchanted with party politics and frightened by what I see from it. The two-party system has evolved into an existential threat to American principles and institutions,” he wrote.
After liberally quoting George Washington’s criticisms of partisanship, Amash wrote that the current state of politics has led to the “near disintegration of representative democracy.”
“These are consequences of a mind-set among the political class that loyalty to party is more important than serving the American people or protecting our governing institutions,” he wrote. “The parties value winning for its own sake, and at whatever cost. Instead of acting as an independent branch of government and serving as a check on the executive branch, congressional leaders of both parties expect the House and Senate to act in obedience or opposition to the president and their colleagues on a partisan basis.”
“Modern politics is trapped in a partisan death spiral, but there is an escape,” he wrote. “Today, I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party. No matter your circumstance, I’m asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us. I’m asking you to believe that we can do better than this two-party system — and to work toward it. If we continue to take America for granted, we will lose it.”
Trump calls Amash quitting party “great news”:
President Trump celebrated Amash quitting the party after he became the first Republican lawmaker to call for impeachment proceedings following the release of the damning Mueller report.
“Great news for the Republican Party as one of the dumbest & most disloyal men in Congress is ‘quitting’ the Party,” Trump tweeted. “No Collusion, No Obstruction! Knew he couldn’t get the nomination to run again in the Great State of Michigan. Already being challenged for his seat. A total loser!”
North Carolina Republican Mark Walker said quitting the Republican Party was not enough.
“Amash left the @freedomcaucus now he’s leaving the @GOP. The @HouseGOP never left @justinamash - we simply ran out of space for his ego,” Walker tweeted. “However, we should make sure he leaves Conference and his committee.”
Amash: Mueller report shows Trump “engaged in impeachable conduct”
In May, Amash became the first Republican lawmaker to join calls for Trump’s impeachment after reading the damning findings in the Mueller report.
Amash wrote that the Mueller report showed that Trump “has engaged in impeachable conduct” and that Attorney General Bill Barr “deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.”
The report “reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment,” Amash wrote. “In fact, Mueller’s report identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence.”
