Capitol News

State GOP lawmakers' attempt to impeach Gov. Gretchen Whitmer came to a screeching halt on Nov. 18, only a couple of days after they had announced their intentions.

Impeachment is a long shot, but what was surprising was that it was Republicans who shut the effort down.

"With the current set of facts that we're living under right now, the current impeachment resolution will not have any proceeding on the House floor," House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) said, according to The Detroit News.

Rep. Beau LaFave | Michigan House Republicans

Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) also smothered fellow Republican lawmakers' hope for impeachment proceedings against the Democrat governor.

"I have not signed on to any notion of impeachment proceedings," Shirkey told The Detroit News.

Without a buy-in from the Michigan House or Senate, there will be no movement on the House Resolution No. 324 introduced Nov. 18 by Rep. Beau LaFave (R-Iron Mountain).

LaFave is one of a small number of Republican lawmakers who want to see Whitmer impeached over her efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the state through a series of controversial executive orders.

Until Nov. 18, the impeachment push existed only in social media, including a Facebook post by Rep. Matt Maddock (R-Milford Township).

Maddock's Facebook post named ten other lawmakers, three of whom will be sworn in after the New Year, in "a growing list of Legislators who are calling forthwith for impeachment hearings for Gov. Whitmer."

"Michigan voters know she has committed the following impeachable conduct," his Facebook post says before listing his complaints about the governor.

Under Michigan's Constitution, a simple majority of the House must vote in favor on an impeachment trial in the Senate. State Republicans have a 58-52 majority in the Michigan House, and that margin won't change next year.

Chatfield told 9 & 10 News that impeachment hearings would only serve as a distraction. "The Michigan voters will have a chance very soon to deal with Gov. Whitmer in 2022, or if they wanted to, they can initiate a recall petition. The impeachment proceedings will not move forward."