GOP Congressman Says House 'Probably' Has Votes To Impeach Obama

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) might want to rethink this one.

The Pennsylvania Republican on Monday said that the House of Representatives could "probably" impeach President Barack Obama if the matter was brought to the floor.

"We have a president that's taken this to a new level. And it's put us in a real position where he’s just absolutely ignoring the Constitution and ignoring the laws and ignoring the checks and balances," he said on the Gary Sutton radio show.

"You know, the problem is, you know, what do you do for those that say impeach him for breaking the laws or bypassing the laws?" he added. "You know, could that pass in the House? It probably could. Is the majority of the American people in favor of impeaching the president? I’m not sure."

"I don't think so, but the point is you're left in kind of political purgatory," the host responded.

The exchange came after a discussion on immigration, the audio of which was posted by BuzzFeed.

Republicans often accuse the president of bypassing Congress by signing an executive order granting deferred action for young immigrants. They also claim to oppose reforming the nation's broken immigration system because the administration cannot "be trusted to enforce our laws," as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) put it.

Barletta's spokesman told the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader that the congressman was not calling for Obama's impeachment, and that his "full answer" was "Could that pass the House? Probably. Would the Senate ever convict? Certainly not. There’s not the will nationally to remove the president, so would it be wise to pursue that? Or would it be harmful to the country? Surely the latter.’ He is not advocating or proposing it.”