- The Republican majority leader in the Wisconsin General Assembly has rejected a Republican attempt to impeach the state's nonpartisan top election official.
- Several Republicans, including the state Senate president, are calling for Wolf to be impeached over his handling of the 2020 election.
- State Rep. Janelle Blancchen introduced a resolution to impeach Wolf in Congress, but as of Thursday, it had just five co-sponsors.
A Republican attempt to impeach Wisconsin's bipartisan top elections official is nothing more than a “big show in front of the cameras” and will be ignored, the Assembly's Republican majority leader said Thursday.
Several Republicans, including the state Senate president, have called for the impeachment of Wisconsin Elections Commission Director Megan Wolf over her handling of the 2020 election, which President Biden won. The Senate voted to remove Wolf from office in October, but later acknowledged the vote was symbolic and had no legal effect.
In Congress, state Rep. Janelle Blancchen introduced a resolution to impeach Wolf. As of Thursday, Blancchen had just five other co-sponsors. Fifty votes are needed to pass.
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Blancchen tried in vain Tuesday to be recognized as a speaker in an effort to get votes for his proposal. Blancchen has espoused discredited conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, and he has accused Republican leaders of being “Administrator Wolf's PR team.”
December 31, 2020 at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. The state's Republican legislative majority leader said the Republican effort to impeach Wisconsin's top nonpartisan election official is nothing more than a “big show in front of the cameras.” (AP Photo/Molly Gash, File)
Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August said at a pre-session news conference Thursday that Blancchen's proposal would not be voted on because it does not have enough support to be removed from committee or approved by a majority of the Assembly.
“We have a process in this building that has been in use for decades for how we bring bills and resolutions to the floor,” August said. “And that's the process we'll continue to use.”
August said that is possible if there is enough support to bring the bill to a vote.
“But actually, she's not like that,” August said. “Our caucus is focused on real things, no ugliness and no big show-offs in front of the cameras. And that's all she wants to do.”
Republicans are pushing for Wolf's removal even as impeachment efforts stall. But she plans to remain in the position at least until the November election, she said.
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House Speaker Robin Vos has been targeted for recall by supporters of former President Donald Trump over her opposition to impeaching Wolf. President Trump posted a news release about Blancheen on his social media platform, Truth Social, in November, criticizing Vos for not doing more to remove Wolf.
Congress can only vote to impeach state officials for acts of corruption while in office, or for crimes or misdemeanors. If a majority of Congress votes in favor of impeachment, the case will proceed to a Senate trial, where a two-thirds vote will be required for conviction.
Wolf is the election administrator, but more than 1,800 local officials are actually running elections in presidential battleground states. The committee she oversees is run by a bipartisan board with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.
Blancchen and others who supported Wolf's impeachment had called for the decertification of Biden's 2020 victory. Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes, a result that required two partial recounts, a bipartisan audit, a review by a conservative law firm, and multiple state and federal lawsuits. endured.
