Trump dares Democrats to impeach him

Why has President Trump forced this moment to a crisis by firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions? Because he loves doing things like this.

He actually did it. On Wednesday afternoon, only an hour or so after completing the press conference equivalent of Buffalo Bill's Wild West, President Trump announced on Twitter that he has forced Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign. He also named Sessions' replacement, the attorney general's own chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker. Whitaker's views about the limits of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's authority were instantly available, courtesy of CNN and Twitter. There is every reason to believe that Whitaker, to whom Rod Rosenstein is also surrendering oversight of Mueller's investigation of collusion between Trump and Russia, will do the president's bidding in ways that Sessions would not.

Sessions' departure means not only the likely end of the Mueller investigation but, despite recent remarks to the contrary from the likely incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the beginning of a process that may well lead to Trump's impeachment.

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Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.