America was stirring with opportunity at the beginning of 2017. Disrupter, energizer, and businessman Donald Trump had just been elected president.

After years of Obama-Biden economic malaise, businesses small and large were eager for the Trump economy to restore America to its best, richest self. Markets responded, gaining hundreds of points within days amid record-high trading volume, and a marked uptick in optimism — the knowledge that America’s best days were still to come.

Those heady days were an opportunity to rally together, under the leadership of a non-ideological president who was eager to make deals with our allies, better deals with our adversaries, and honest deals with dishonest politicians in both parties. After all, who could reasonably oppose policies that put America and the American people first?

Jealous and out of power, Congressional Democrats retreated from sincere debates about policy. Instead, they relaunched as a counterinsurgency, churning out disinformation and hate aimed at delegitimizing President Trump. They did not want good-faith debate — they wanted the election results overturned.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., tried to block Electoral College votes on the floor of Congress — an unprecedented act of obstruction. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., called the President a “Russian agent” when Trump began negotiating disarmament with the global menace of North Korea. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., boasted of “irrefutable evidence” of criminal obstruction. Rep. Adam Schiff even performed a fake transcript of a presidential conversation — all part of Democrats’ attempts to launch an unpatriotic, unsuccessful impeachment based on innuendo, speculation, and lies.

Presented with an opportunity to come together, Democrats instead chose corrupt investigations, division, and phony outrage. And now, during a time of global calamity, they’re doing it all over again.

The COVID-19 crisis demands collaboration, unity, and common purpose. Unfortunately, Trump Derangement Syndrome has critically afflicted far too many of my colleagues across the aisle. Many people wish we could force politicians to shut down their partisan gamesmanship as easily as we shut down coffee shops and diners. Sadly, we can’t.

On a leaked conference call, Democratic Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., confessed that House Democrats saw COVID-19 as a “tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.” And they’re doing just that.

As the Trump Administration and Republicans negotiated for payments to workers, relief for businesses, and additional medical resources, Democrats loaded relief legislation with liberal pork. $350 million for migrant and refugee assistance, over $1 billion for global aid, Kennedy Center face-lifts and more were included. It was a disgusting political play — and Democrats aren’t done.

Speaker Pelosi has just announced a new committee to attack President Trump over the administration’s handling of COVID-19. The crisis isn’t over. It hasn’t even hit its apex. They’re prioritizing pot-shot politics over cooperation to defeat this virus as one great nation. They’re choosing subpoenas over solutions, hearings over health care, and theatrics over therapies.

Democrats claim they want “oversight” — to ensure money allocated by Congress is spent effectively and wisely. Unfortunately, their own track record belies their claims. If Democrats cared about carefully handling taxpayer money, they wouldn’t have spent $350 million of it on programs to resettle refugees worldwide, at a time when half the world’s population is on lockdown. And where were their urgent committees, task forces, reports, and studies when the Obama administration depleted the National Strategic Stockpile and didn’t replenish it? Where was their criticism when the Swine Flu/H1N1 pandemic hospitalized and killed thousands of Americans and the Obama administration sat on its hands?

Republicans should not participate in this charade. We should call it what it is — Democrats’ destructive, never-ending bloodlust against President Trump. In Democrats’ feverish delirium, helping Americans back on their feet is trivial compared to their goal of taking down the President.

They didn’t care when their lies about "Russian collusion" undermined our nation in nuclear talks, or when the bizarre Ukraine impeachment saga drew our energy and focus away from confronting China on trade. But with our economy frozen in place, and with a crazy Chinese bat virus affecting every element of American life, you’d think Democrats could offer more than merely reverting to the muscle memory of failed impeachments past.

In the coming weeks, Trump will continue to lead America through this surreal chapter in our history. We will work tirelessly to connect our medical heroes with resources. The innovation community will develop new therapies, vaccines, and treatments. Medical infrastructure will be repatriated, ensuring that the health of our citizens is never dependent on the whims of foreigners. And our economy will rebound — because it has always been, and remains, the strongest and most resilient in the world.

Trump and his allies in Congress will work toward the righteous goal of a restored America. And, it seems, Democrats have already started laying the foundations for their next self-indulgent impeachment.

Matt Gaetz, a Republican, represents Florida's first congressional district in the U.S. House.