GOP Congressman Peter Meijer on Why He Voted To Impeach Trump

The 33-year-old lawmaker, who occupies Justin Amash's old seat, talks about how his party needs to reclaim the mantle of limited government, capitalism, and individualism.
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How's this for a busy first couple of weeks on the job?

Just three days after being sworn into Congress to represent Michigan's 3rd district, Republican freshman Peter Meijer found himself and his colleagues trapped without security in the bowels of the Capitol building while a riot that ultimately claimed five lives raged all around.

The following week, he was one of just 10 Republicans—and the only first-term member of the GOP—who voted to impeach Donald Trump, whom he had vocally supported on the campaign trail. Meijer's vote to impeach led to immediate announcements that he will be primaried in 2022 and a narrowly failed censure vote from his own state's GOP.

The 33-year-old Iraq War veteran, who says his military training helps him maintain focus, is filling the seat vacated by former Libertarian Party Congressman Justin Amash, whose policy views he shares on a broad range of issues. Meijer told Reason why he believes in limited government, economic freedom, and individualism; why he's against out-of-control stimulus spending and military adventurism; and how he plans to combat the craziness he sees both on the right and left in the House of Representatives.

He also talks about what he's learned about business and public service from being the scion of the Meijer superstore chain, how generational fault lines may be as important as political ones, and why he's committed to voting his principles rather than his constituents' will.

Narrated by Nick Gillespie. Edited by Austin Bragg and Regan Taylor.

Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom