Pelosi refuses to rule out impeachment for Trump
Nancy Pelosi declined to rule out impeaching President Donald Trump before being sworn in as Speaker for the US House of Representatives as the Democratic Party took control of the chamber yesterday.
The 78-year-old Democrat congresswoman for California, became the first person in half a century to take on the role twice, having previously held the post during George W Bush’s presidency.
She was brought in after the Democrats won back control of the House – one half of the US Congress – at the midterm elections last November.
It is a major headache for Trump, with the US president’s political opponents now able to block his legislation and launch investigations into him through the chamber’s committees.
The Democrats could also use the position to impeach Trump – the act of removing a sitting president from office. Impeachment proceedings begin in the House and need a simple majority to pass. But the Senate, held by the Republicans, would also need to back the move for it to become binding.
Conducting a round of interviews before taking up the position, Pelosi, who effectively becomes the most powerful female politician in America, declined to rule out going for impeachment.
She said the party would not pursue impeachment for political reasons but hinted a change in stance could be on the cards depending on what was uncovered by Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the Russian election-meddling investigation.
‘‘We have to wait and see what happens with the Mueller report,’’ Pelosi told NBC’s Today show in an interview broadcast yesterday. ‘‘We shouldn’t be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn’t avoid impeachment for a political reason.’’
In a sign of the enthusiasm in some quarters of the Democratic Party for the move, Brad Sherman, a California congressman, said he would introduce articles of impeachment again in the House.
He made a similar move in 2017. There is not believed to be enough support to see the move gather real momentum, for now at least.
Pelosi also queried US Justice Department guidelines that say a sitting US president cannot be indicted for a crime.
She said in an interview that the guidelines were not ‘‘conclusive’’, adding: ‘‘I think that is an open discussion in terms of the law.’’
The guidelines have become a point of debate after Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, admitted breaking campaign finance laws over two hush-money payments before the 2016 US election.
Cohen said in court that Trump directed him to make the payments, given to two women who claimed to have had affairs with him. The allegation has raised the question of whether the president could be indicted.
Trump has denied the alleged affairs and directing the payments. New congressmen who were elected in November’s elections were sworn in during a child-friendly ceremony on Washington’s Capitol Hill yesterday.
Pelosi’s re-election to the role came despite grumblings from some Democratic congressmen about her age and Left-wing credentials. The accomplishment confirms her status as the highest-ranking elected woman ever in American history. There has never been another female speaker of the House and no woman has ever won the presidency. Her tenure is likely to be judged on how she handles Trump and the degree to which she stands up to his demands or works with him to pass bipartisan legislation.
Pelosi made a point in her acceptance speech of welcoming the new intake of congressmen, which includes more women and politicians from ethnic backgrounds than ever before.
They included Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, who held a baby during the ceremony in Congress.
Pelosi said: ‘‘When our new members take the oath, our Congress will be refreshed, and our democracy will be strengthened by the optimism, idealism and patriotism of this transformative freshman class.
‘‘Working together, we will redeem the promise of the American dream for every family, advancing progress for every community.’’ – Telegraph Group