by Adam Yoshida
“Officers of the force raise to defend the Capitol – the Congressional Provisional Battalion – will be circulating momentarily. As well, a web site is up at defendcongress.org or @defendcongress on Twitter. Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.”
The Oval Office, The White House
Senator Dawson of New York had, after considerable effort, finally managed to secure a meeting with the President. When she was ushered into the Oval Office, she found Bryan sitting quietly in his chair behind the Resolution desk and gazing out the window at the nighttime visage of the nation’s capital.
“All I wanted to do was to protect the people,” said the President quietly as the Senator walked towards him.
“I know that, Mr. President,” said Dawson softly.
“Do they?” said the President pitifully, pointing at the window.
“A lot of them do, sir,” said the Senator.
“I only went into politics because I wanted to see the government do more to help people. Because I grew up in places where people had nothing and I saw that there were so many places where others had everything. That’s all that I wanted.”
“Mr. President, I know that, but I have to tell you that people are very frightened up on the Hill. No one knows what’s going to happen. The Speaker has his own personal army wandering the halls of the Capitol now and there are these rumors that the army or the FBI is going to be coming and knocking down the doors of the place at any moment. This is so far gone that someone has to back down. And I don’t think that it will happen on the Hill.”
“It won’t happen here, either,” said the President, with a slight kick to his voice.
“Then where does this end?” asked the Senator.
“It ends,” replied Bryan, “when the will of the people is done.”
“But, Mr. President, everyone here thinks that they represent the will of the people. Both mobs. You. The Speaker. Everyone. Now, I happen to agree mostly with you – but you can’t all be right and you can’t talk other people out of their deepest convictions.”
“Those who have violated the law must bear the consequences of their actions,” said the President firmly.
“At what cost, Mr. President? If you order the Army to storm the Capitol and have them or someone else drag away the opposition, what is the reaction going to be? In Washington? In the media? In the country?”
“Treason has been allowed to flourish, Senator,” said the President, rising from his chair, “traitors have sought to undermine this country at every opportunity for years, attempting to seize our government and make it a creature of the wealthy and the mega-corporations. I just won’t have it. I will stop it now, whatever the cost to myself might be. I will return this country to the people.”
“Mr. President...”
“I’m sorry, Senator,” said the President, “it has been a terribly long day and tomorrow will be no easier. I think I need to get some sleep.”
The President got up and began to walk towards his private office, where he had often taken to sleeping in recent days. As he reached the door, he stopped and turned to face the Senator.
“It would probably be best if you and the rest of our friends weren’t in the Capitol in the morning.”
Then he closed the door behind him.
U.S. House of Representatives
The Speaker and the Majority Whip were watching proceedings on the floor of the House when one of Nelson’s deputies, a very young-looking Congressman from Oregon, pushed his way through the door.
“Michael!” he rushed through the door of the office before spying Rickover. “Mr. Speaker,” he said more formally, stopping to straighten himself up.
“Almost all of the Democratic members of the House and Senate, along with staffers, have begun to clear the building,” said the Congressman.
“Well, I suppose that means that they’re coming,” said the Speaker.
“Henry tells me that he has about two thousand volunteers for the Battalion from the crowd. He’s only giving weapons to people with military or law enforcement experience, and he’s using them to try and block all breach points into the Capitol. More experienced men, especially those from Praetorian or the active duty folks who have come over are, typically with a Capitol police officer or a staffer as a guide, serving as rapid-response teams within the complex itself,” noted Nelson.
“The Democrats have all left the building,” repeated the Speaker with a smile.
“Yeah,” said Nelson, “but I mean – the President can veto anything we pass, if he’d even bother to look at it and not just declare anything we vote on now illegitimate...”
“Does anyone know where the Chief Justice is?” asked the Speaker, as he pulled out his personal smartphone and quickly began typing something out.
Fort Myer, VA
It was shortly after 4AM when the 4th Battalion was given its go order, issued directly through the chain of command by the Secretary of Defense. No fewer than three officers within that chain had resigned rather than relay the order to the next echelon on down. But, eventually, it had gotten there.
Many of the men and women of the battalion were themselves ambivalent about the assignment. One in ten of them refused the order outright and were placed under arrest as a result. Others obeyed, but moved slowly and voiced their reservations constantly. What use they would be if the thing actually came to a fight remained a great unknown.
The deployment of the battalion was further delayed by nearly an hour when some unknown party sabotaged the fuel pumps for the battalion’s Stryker vehicles, leaving pools of diesel fuel on the ground for Colonel Gregory to tour.
“Fuck,” said the Colonel as he looked at the effects that this single act of sabotage had already had.
“Don’t people understand – this might be our only chance to avoid this blowing up into something larger?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” asked Quentin Salinger, a young Second Lieutenant who commanded a platoon.
“If everyone in Washington wants to act totally fucking insane, the only way that things might cool off is if we can separate the warring parties. This is like the Goddamned Yugoslavia right now. Right and wrong are out the window for the moment. We just need to stop people from killing one another in great numbers.”
“And if we march on it and arrest – or support the arrest – of members of the Congress, then what?” asked Salinger.
“We let the system sort things out.”
“The same system that’s putting talk show hosts in prison? The same system that’s utterly fucked up this whole country?”
“Lieutenant...” said the Colonel.
“No sir,” said Salinger, “I can’t, in good conscience, abide any of this.”
“Lieutenant,” said Gregory, “you don’t want to go down this road...”
“Sir,” replied Salinger, “to participate in an attack upon the Congress of the United States would be a violation of my oath under the Constitution.”
“Son...” said Gregory.
“No sir,” answered the Lieutenant.
The Colonel signed and gestured to two MPs who were standing nearby.
“Take Lieutenant Salinger into custody for violating Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,” ordered the Colonel.
Fort Stewart, GA
“This is a mutiny, you realize,” said Colonel Robinette as he and General Starnes watched the line of Abrams Tanks and Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles of the 3rd Squadron of the 7th Cavalry Regiment get fueled and equipped.
“Is it?” said Starnes, “we have a duty, as officers, to defend the United States and its Constitution. I would argue that if the Congress of the United States is under attack we, as soldiers of this country, have an obligation to defend it.”
“Tell the court that right before they hang you,” said Robinette.
“We live in such civilized times, Colonel. They wouldn’t hang me. Inject me, maybe,
” answered the General.
“I don’t think that these are going to be civilized times much longer,” said the Chief of Staff sadly.
“Perhaps not,” agreed Starnes, “perhaps that was part of the problem.”
“Are those fuel trucks ready to go?” shouted the General as a Major jogged by.
“Almost good to go, General!” shouted the Major without stopping.
“Eighteen hours to Washington,” said the General, checking his watch.
“Assuming that the fuel holds and that no one tries to stop you along the way,” said Robinette.
“Nothing short of another Abrams is going to stop our fucking tanks,” answered the General.
“The Air Force might,” said Robinette.
“They’re not even going to have time to process what the fuck is going on,” said Starnes. “The Seventh Cavalry will be able to come to the rescue before they have a fucking clue. I’m saddened that we could only move on battalion on such short notice, but damn am I proud that it’s this particular one.”
U.S. House of Representatives
“I’m surprised that they didn’t think to secure the Chief Justice,” said Senator Russell of Kansas as she and her colleagues were briefed on the Speaker’s plan.
“You know, though, there are still a few Democrats around here,” she said, “I suppose that they’re supposed to delay things if we try and pull something like this so that their colleagues can come rushing back to save the day.”
“We’re prepared for that,” replied Michael Nelson.
“Well,” said the Speaker, “there’s really no time to waste, is there? I’ve prepared this in a hurry, but it ought to do in a pinch.”
He touched the screen of his smartphone and e-mailed the text he had prepared to everyone in the room.
Resolved, that Kevin Jonathan Bryan, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, against Kevin Jonathan Bryan, President of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article I
In his conduct while President of the United States, Kevin Jonathan Bryan has repeatedly violated his oath of office and his Constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. He has abused his powers as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States by intimating and abetting criminal investigations into unambiguously non-criminal conduct with the purpose of intimidating and harassing political opponents. He has seized private property without legal authorization and attempted to use it to fund spending not authorized by the Congress.
Wherefore, Kevin Jonathan Bryan, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.
“You know,” said Theresa Rowan, looking up from her smartphone, “some people are going to say that doing this while the Democrats aren’t around is a dirty trick.”
“Well,” replied the Speaker, “fuck ‘em.”
Fort Myer, VA
Wheezing from the effort, 4th Battalion, Third Infantry Regiment was finally able to hit the road at a little after 8AM. Only 75% of its personnel were available to make movement, and many of them were moving under protest. Nearly a third of the battalion’s officers had either resigned or refused their orders and been placed under arrest.
The plan was for the 4th Battalion to serve as the primary assault force in displacing the forces of the Congressional Provisional Battalion who now occupied positions surrounding the Capitol, with the actual arrests of the rebellious members of the Congress being conducted by the FBI and every other sworn Federal Law Enforcement Officer that the President and the Department of Justice could lay their hands upon.
Colonel Gregory was nervous as to what would happen if and when his soldiers were actually called upon to fire against their fellow Americans. Given how many had refused to even contemplate the possibility, he wondered, how many would shrink from the actuality of it?
The Battalion’s Stryker vehicles made their way down the road in near-darkness, with the streets still largely illuminated by artificial light and the regular flashes of the cameras of civilians taking pictures of the movement of the first unit of the U.S. Army ordered out to suppress a rebellion in more than a century and a half.
U.S. House of Representatives
“Mr. Speaker,” Representative Ronald Fulton of New Mexico rose to speak, “I move that the rules of the House be suspended to allow for expedited passage of the resolution.”
“Without objection, so ordered,” announced Terrance Rickover from the chair.
“I move that the House proceed directly to a vote on the final passage of the resolution,” said the New Mexico Congressman.
“Without objection, so ordered,” repeated the Speaker, “the House will now cast its votes upon the resolution electronically.”
It would later be called the “Half-Hour Impeachment.” This was somewhat inaccurate. In fact, from the moment that Representative Fulton rose in the House until the completion of events in the Senate some forty-one minutes passed.
“By a vote of two hundred and forty-six to four, the resolution is carried,” announced the Speaker, “the Clerk will inform the Senate of the action taken by the House.”
Per the terms of the resolution, six members of the House had already been designated as impeachment “managers”. The moment that the impeachment passed the House, they took off for the Senate at a run.
U.S. Senate
“Mr. President,” said Senator Jake Reinhardt of Michigan, “I move that the Senate do adjourn and reconvene as a court of impeachment to try the charges brought against President Kevin Bryan by the House of Representatives.”
“Point of order!” shouted Senator Leigh Enfield of North Dakota, one of the few Democrats who had remained in the chamber.
“The Senator from North Dakota is recognized,” said the President Pro Tempore.
“Mr. President, it is highly irregular – immoral even – for a trial to begin before the defendant is permitted even to mount a defense!”
“The point is not well-taken,” replied the President Pro Tempore, “as an impeachment trial is a political act, not a judicial one, and the ordinary rules and standards of judicial procedure emphatically do not apply.”
“What about standards of civilized behavior!” shot Enfield.
“The Senator is out of order,” replied the President Pro Tempore evenly before continuing, “the motion by the Senator from Michigan, having been made and seconded, is recognized.”
The Oval Office, The White House
“They can’t do this,” insisted a white-knuckled President Kevin Bryan as the latest events from the Congress streamed into the Oval Office.
“I don’t know that we can stop them,” said Jamal Anderson, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
“We could try and get our people back down to the Senate,” suggested the Legislative Director.
“Which would mean calling off the arrest of the rebels,” said the President, standing for a moment before stopping and leaning over his desk, “which is simply not an acceptable outcome.”
“Mr. President,” interjected the Secretary of Defense, “we could speed up the arrests. The battalion is now in place. I’ve been on the phone with the AG and the FBI Director all morning. We’re not 100% ready, but if we have to go now we can do that.”
“Alright,” the President nodded, “make it happen.”
U.S. Capitol
The entire crowd, both pro and anti-Administration, had fallen virtually silent as the Federal forces began to assemble within view of the Capitol itself.
“Soldier
s on the street of Washington, out to arrest the Congress, I never thought I’d see the day,” said Christopher Sorensen as he tightly gripped the M-16A2 rifle that had been issued to him as a volunteer member of the Congressional Provisional Battalion.
“That’s the difference between you and I, Chris,” replied Martin Green, who had also signed on when the men from the CPB had begun to circulate throughout the crowd in search of volunteers, “I always did.”
By the time that the morning of the 21st rolled around, the little army formed by the Congress had managed to equip and enroll nearly a thousand of the people who had come forward to volunteer for temporary service. No one who did not have prior military or law enforcement experience had been issued a weapon, so the force consisted of men and women who had at least some training. In fact, many of them were either combat veterans or long-term soldiers with specialized skills. However, few of them had ever fought together before and they were lacking in anything beyond the most basic equipment and command and control. Hand-held radios had been issued in the likely event that the Federal Government would shut down the cellular phone network when the time came for the final assault on the Capitol, but they were only available in limited quantities. Lacking an effective screening and personnel selection process, the Congressional Provisional Battalion had organized itself using the same method as militia units in the early days of the Republic: they had elected their own officers. It was by such means that both Green and Sorensen had officially become Lieutenants in that force.
“Do not fire unless fired upon,” breathed Green to himself, “but if they mean to have a war, then let it begin here.”
“What was that?” asked Sorensen.
“Just something that we’d forgotten,” answered Green.
Sorensen’s phone rang. It was only intermittently functional, but there were enough power sources around that he’d been able to charge it at least every once and a while. He answered the phone.
