WCL Connections: Representative Jamie Raskin and Delegate Stacey Plaskett ’94 Named House Impeachment Managers
Jan. 14, 2021
On Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed nine Democrats to serve as impeachment managers, including Congressman and American University Washington College of Law Professor Emeritus Jamie Raskin, who represents Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, and Congresswoman and AUWCL alumna Stacey Plaskett ’94, who serves as the delegate from the Virgin Islands. Congressman Raskin was named the lead impeachment manager.
"Tonight, I have the solemn privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump," Speaker Pelosi said in her statement. "It is their constitutional and patriotic duty to present the case for the President's impeachment and removal. They will do so guided by their great love of country, determination to protect our democracy and loyalty to our oath to the Constitution. Our Managers will honor their duty to defend democracy For The People with great solemnity, prayerfulness and urgency."
Leading the Impeachment Charge
Congressman Raskin co-authored the article of impeachment that was submitted for a vote before the full House on Wednesday. The resolution to impeach President Trump for “incitement of insurrection” passed 232 to 197, resulting in Trump’s second impeachment.
UPDATE: On Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, Congressman Raskin, along with the other eight House Impeachment Managers, delivered the Article of Impeachment to the Senate. As lead Impeachment Manager, Raskin read the article of impeachment out loud to the chamber.
Raskin’s tremendous service over the past two weeks has been recognized by his colleagues in Congress, community members, and his AU Washington College of Law family as he has continued to work while mourning the very recent loss of his son, Tommy Raskin, 25, whose death he announced on Dec. 31, 2020. The Raskin family posted this moving tribute to Tommy, who lost his battle with depression.
Raskin began his third term in Congress this month after first being elected to represent Maryland’s 8th District in 2016. He is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Committee on House Administration. At the start of the 116th Congress, he joined the House Committee on Rules and he now Chairs the Rules Subcommittee on Expedited Procedures. Raskin is Vice Chair of the House Administration Committee, Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and Vice Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. Raskin served as the Caucus Leadership Representative and as a Senior Whip for the 116th Congress.
Prior to his time in Congress, Raskin was a three-term State Senator in Maryland, where he also served as the Senate Majority Whip. He earned a reputation for building coalitions in Annapolis to deliver a series of landmark legislative accomplishments. He was a professor of constitutional law at American University Washington College of Law for more than 25 years, where he was founding co-director of the law school’s Program on Law and Government and founded the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.
A Four-Term Delegate
Congresswoman Plaskett represents the United States Virgin Islands’ at-large Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She currently serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is also a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, where she serves as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Biotechnology, Horticulture and Research. Plaskett serves in the Democratic Caucus as a Senior Whip. She is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and the New Democrats Coalition, where she is the Co-Chair of the Taskforce on Infrastructure. The Congresswoman is a Co-Chair of the Congressional Caribbean Caucus.
As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Plaskett pushes for improvements to critical infrastructure in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the insular areas, as well as the development of economically depressed rural and urban areas. She sits on three Subcommittees: Aviation, Coast Guard and Maritime, as well as Transit and Highways. As a former attorney working in Public Finance law, she sees the importance of Public Private Partnership and works to create constructive innovative mechanisms for incentivizing economic development in underserved areas in the United States. Plaskett also works to ensure the federal government is responsive to the needs of Americans in disaster-stricken areas.
Plaskett was first elected as the delegate to Congress representing the Virgin Islands in 2014 and is serving her fourth term.
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