While some Wisconsin lawmakers support impeachment, others push back against idea

RACINE, Wis. (CBS 58) – Most Wisconsin Congressional Democrats support the invoking of the 25th Amendment and moving forward with impeachment, but Democrat Congressman Ron Kind of La Crosse wants to see the final days of the Trump presidency play out differently.

“I again reiterate my call for the president of the United States to voluntarily stand down and resign,” Rep. Kind told reporters on a video conference. “That is the quickest and most decent and safest thing that can be done right now.”

Kind also believes the Trump administration should seriously consider invoking the 25th Amendment, but he’s skeptical about the impeachment process and if it can be done on time as well as its lasting effects.

“I’m a little worried too about the precedent that could be established by rushing to an impeachment formality in Congress without the due diligence, without the necessary hearings and evidentiary fact-gathering,” Kind said.

The Democrat from La Crosse also said he hopes Republicans in Congress put pressure on President Donald Trump, similarly to how Republicans did so with former President Richard Nixon.

But that idea has not gained any momentum among the GOP.

“Joe Biden must condemn this reckless move,” Congressman Bryan Steil of Janesville said in a statement. “I oppose [Nancy] Pelosi’s efforts to impeach President Trump. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have already tried and failed to remove President Trump through impeachment. Enough already!”

Steil also said Congress should work to lower the temperature of the political atmosphere.

Political experts say the level of concrete discussions around the 25th Amendment, resignation and impeachment at one moment is unprecedented.

“This is just one more indication of how deeply strange and uncharted the waters are through which we are now navigating,” UW-Madison political science professor Howard Schweber told CBS 58 in an interview.

Schweber said Rep. Kind’s concerns about a quick impeachment are understandable, but also noted Congress has these powers for a reason.

“The argument in favor of impeachment for those who support it is precisely that it does set a precedent,” Schweber said. “That there are actions or ways of behaving by a president that will result in congressional response of the most extreme kind.”

Schweber added that impeachment may not just be symbolic. If the Senate were to convict the president, it would bar him from holding public office again.