The night of November 8, 2016, I checked my phone around 10pm after work and immediately began to panic. The worst case scenario in my mind was happening: Donald Trump was winning in the electoral count. I never thought it could happen, for someone who came across as reckless and childish would never be fit to even be a candidate. But it did, and I was crushed.

Since then, I have moved on from being completely crushed and hyper-panicked, but as I see tweet after tweet and scandal after scandal come from the White House, I do wonder: when will we impeach him? When will our Congressmen and Congresswomen stand up and say that the Trump administration has simply gone too far and caused too much turmoil to fix it effectively?

Now, of course, this is not an irrational thought, as some legislative members have already called for Trump’s impeachment or resignation. Someone had to be the first to put their foot down and decide that Bill Clinton was unfit for the presidency; it is possible for a very serious force to be put up against Trump soon. President Trump somedays seems to be doing nothing except creating permanent damage to the economy and American citizens. However, while in my heart, I do think impeachment is a rational thought and something to consider, is it the best option for our country? In other words, just because he seems unqualified for the position, what would happen if he was removed from office?

If determined to be unfit for office, we can look to the Constitution for help. Per Amendment 25, if the Vice President and President both resign or the President is impeached and the Vice President resigns, then the Speaker of the House will become President. Since the Vice President is not resigning, Pence would be the next in line.

This surely has its appeals. Less fiery tweets intertwined with name-calling, fewer times of hearing about “fits of rage,” and certainly not as many poorly-planned out remarks and phrasing. Some even think that the risk of heightened tensions or suggestions of Nuclear War with North Korea would be a lot less tense, which could have some truth to it. However, despite the blissful thought of less childish tweets, there could be some drawbacks to exactly what would entail a Pence presidency for both sides.

As everyone has heard, there are people who make sure to exclaim daily that the Republican Party and the President don’t really know what they’re doing. Contrary to the frustration that is within the Executive Branch, I think they know exactly what they’re doing. Assume that Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Even so, it isn’t like the whole government stops functioning because one branch is virtually missing in order. There are still Congressmen and women working every day and fighting every day on behalf of their constituents and parties. There are still people making moves and setting up deals and arguing to get some work done. I mean, there were entire health care bills written behind closed doors with little consultation from the President except for what appeared to be “hey, do you want to endorse this?” Trump, from my perspective, essentially acts a sort of distraction for the party most days.

Everyone follows the trail of what is perceived to be flat out ignorance on some days, but there is legislation you don’t hear about passing and unless you religiously watch C-Span, there are motions being made in the legislative branch and there were cabinet members sworn in that you may have never even heard of. If Trump is impeached, Pence has enough credibility to at least have some kind of idea how to run things.

For the left, it’s easy to say they’ll be dissatisfied no matter what; Pence has a ton of policies that directly go against values of those in the Democratic Party. On the right, things may be trickier to see though. It’s easy to speculate that people on the right may be more satisfied as someone who is more respected and has a lot of background in law and policy is in charge.

But there is a catch: with someone who knows more of what they are doing, it will be easier for the public to see what is going on the majority of the time rather than hearing about scandals or “covfefe.” There will be less of a filter and potentially more backlash, especially from Congress members.

Now, sure, you may be saying this would be a good thing and that you can see the truth now as to what is happening. And you know you’ll see more of what is being done rather than said because the media seems to have a close eye on this Administration already, so that wouldn’t change very dramatically. But, along with seeing more of what is going on, that can throw a wrench in things, so to say.

It’s extremely important for people to know what is happening in their country, especially within the government, because it affects all of us. However, if the media does turn even more to the fight between Pence in office and displeased Democrats, this will continue to the polarization of parties and a greater want for many people to not even talk politics at all.

Not to mention, the impeachment process is incredibly hard and would require a partisan effort; since there are still those on the right that still support Trump, it seems very unlikely that impeachment could happen as quickly as people expect. Not to mention, Pence has a say in the matter, and he seems to be content with his position as he sits.

You can make a case for impeachment or even have impeachment fever for President Trump. However, please have caution in what you say as to why you are making the case and how the process could affect the bigger picture.

It may seem as if a lot of problems could be resolved with his ejection, but there are still problems that will exist and have to be dealt with when he would be gone. It’s important to not act on a sense of emotion and outrage, but to examine what will still be there, knowing how it will be resolved because we know who the replacement would be.

The situation of our country that we are in right now is not ideal, but make sure you would be alright with the next best alternative before calling for impeachment.