A student senator filed Tuesday for the impeachment of student body president Reid Joseph on the grounds that he has failed to comply with the legal duties of his position.
With 21 signatures from student senators, the petition for impeachment has the necessary one-thirds signatures required by the SGA constitution for an impeachment trial to be held at the next Student Senate meeting, Feb. 19, said Student Senate speaker Christopher Russo.
According to the SGA constitution, a three-fourths vote from student senators at the hearing is required to remove Joseph from office.
The articles of impeachment, filed by student senator Cary Cheshire, state that despite notifications, Joseph has “repeatedly and deliberately” taken action contrary to the rules outlined in the SGA Constitution and SGA Code. The document also states that the executive cabinet has been “rocked with repeated resignations of members.”
Cheshire said he feels morally obligated to uphold his oath of office as senator by filing for Joseph’s impeachment.
Joseph said his team is looking further into the issue and encouraged students to share their opinions on the matter.
“It is an incredible honor to represent this student body and school I love so dearly,” Joseph said. “We have made incredible strides this year in student government and have brought about some great changes … I would like to encourage all students to reach out to The Battalion, to the Student Senate as well as myself and express their opinion on the matter. My email is sbp.tamu.edu and I look forward to hearing from the student body.”
Cheshire said he will present a more detailed argument at the Feb. 19 hearing.
The rules and regulations chair will preside over the meeting, which will be closed to all parties except the defendant, senators and the chief justice of student government’s judicial court.