Oklahoma Bill Calls for Impeachment of President Barack Obama for Protecting Transgender Students

Resolution States President Has No ‘Authority Whatsoever Over the Public Education System’

Oklahoma lawmakers Thursday filed a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Barack Obama for protecting transgender students. Last week the Dept. of Justice and the Dept. of Education issued a letter to all public schools stating transgender students cannot be discriminated against. That directive states trans students must be allowed to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity.

SCR 43 requests Oklahoma’s U.S. Representatives “to file articles of impeachment against the President of the United States, the Attorney General of the United States, the Secretary of Education,” it reads. The resolution goes on to call for the impeachment of “any other federal official liable to impeachment, who has exceeded his or her constitutional authority with respect to the letter referenced in this resolution.”

That letter of course being the guidance instructing public schools to not discriminate against trans students.

Why? How is it Oklahoma lawmakers think they can do this?

Their right to call for the impeachment of the President and his Cabinet Secretaries, they believe, is “based upon the grounds that the Constitution of the United States does not grant the executive branch of the federal government any authority whatsoever over the public education system, nor over the use of restrooms or other facilities thereof.”

Oklahoma lawmakers should spend some time reading the Constitution and the laws that authorize the President, Attorney General, and Secretary of Education to take the actions they have.

The resolution goes on to “condemns the actions of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education” for protecting transgender students.

Why?

Protecting trans students is “contrary to the values of the citizens of Oklahoma and to the interests of public safety.”

Mull that over for a few minutes. And remember we’re talking about children.

The resolution is sponsored by Republican Sen. Anthony Sykes and Republican Rep. John Bennett.

 

Image: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza via Flickr
Hat tip: Chase Strangio