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Republican says impeachment of Obama might be on table soon

WASHINGTON — Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King said that if President Obama pushes forward with executive action on immigration, the “i-word” would be on the table.

He’s the latest Republican to threaten impeachment, much to the amusement of Democrats who have been rapidly raising money off the possibility by rallying Obama’s supporters.

“None of us want to do the thing that’s left for us as an alternative,” King said on “Fox News Sunday.” “But if the president has decided that he’s simply not going to enforce any immigration law … I think Congress has to sit down and have a serious look at the rest of the Constitution, and that includes that i-word that we don’t want to say.”

“Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace pressed whether King indeed meant impeachment if Obama did issue executive actions to defer deportations.

“Where would we draw the line otherwise?” King said. “If that’s not enough to bring that about, then I don’t know what would be.”

King’s comments came after Congress left Washington on Friday for a five-week recess without sending a bill to Obama to handle the flood of migrant children on the border.

Obama said he’s now forced “to act alone,” alluding to the possibility of executive actions. Immigration activists have been pressuring Obama to use his authority to defer more deportations since the House had been unwilling to take up the Senate-passed comprehensive immigration reform.

Last Sunday, the No. 3 GOP leader in the House, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, refused to take impeachment off the table in a separate interview on “Fox News Sunday.”

In response, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a successful online fundraising drive, netting $1 million within a day, said Rep. Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the group.

“Their misfiring strategy is moving people into our fold,” Israel said.

House Republicans are already moving forward with a lawsuit against Obama, alleging he violated the law when he delayed parts of the Affordable Care Act.

But House Speaker John Boehner insists his party is not going any further.

“We have no plans to impeach the president. We have no future plans,” Boehner said. “It’s all a scam started by Democrats at the White House.”

But Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Boehner can’t be trusted.

“House Republicans are clearly taking us on a march toward impeachment,” Jeffries said on “Fox News Sunday.”