Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) defended President Barack Obama against impeachment on Tuesday, telling a constituent that Congress should be focused instead on the economy, according to the Opelika-Auburn News.
At a town hall meeting in Auburn, Ala., Rogers responded to one constituent's call to impeach the president -- for what the constituent, Carl Gagliano, described as doing things that are "clearly illegal" -- saying that seeking impeachment would be a waste of time.
"I share every frustration you've got," Rogers told Gagliano, "but in absence of him doing something more directly in violation of the constitution...we would be wasting time and energy when people care about the economy. ... That's what people really want us to be focused on is jobs and the economy."
"The fact is we have to remember the man was elected by the majority of people in this country. I don't understand it. It didn't happen in my neck of the woods, but he was," Rogers added, saying the way to change the policies coming out of Washington, D.C. is to vote new people into office.
In January, a number of Republican congressmen, including Reps. Steve Stockman (Texas), Louie Gohmert (Texas) and Trey Radel (Fla.), floated the idea of impeachment over Obama's push for new gun control measures.
At a February town hall, however, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also told a constituent in Phoenix that Congress had not impeached Obama because he didn't believe "the President has committed impeachable offenses."
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