Impeachment now OK with half of House Dems
WASHINGTON — What began this year as a longshot movement by some Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump hit a new milestone Thursday, with nearly half the House Democratic majority publicly endorsing a formal impeachment inquiry.
The growing sentiment has been amplified by calls for impeachment from most of the party’s presidential hopefuls. One of them, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, suggested at Wednesday’s debate that Trump will taunt Democrats throughout 2020 if they fail to act on impeachment.
The push in the House to oust Trump has been accelerated by testimony from former special counsel Robert Mueller confirming that the president could be charged with obstruction of justice after he leaves office, prompting more than 20 Democrats to announce support for an inquiry. Those calls came amid mounting pressure from liberal activists, applied in some cases by Democratic primary challengers who argue that incumbents, including four powerful committee chairmen, have been too reticent in taking on Trump.
While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., continues to stress investigations over impeachment, last week she gave a green light for lawmakers to chart their own course while telling reporters that it would not necessarily change her views.
“I’m willing to take whatever heat there is,” she said.
Interviews with eight lawmakers who have publicly backed an impeachment inquiry over the past week showed they are eager to speak out against Trump but loath to breathe hellfire on the party leadership, suggesting the surge of support may not have much immediate effect on Pelosi’s thinking.
Instead, the Democrats have largely cast their announcements as personal decisions that were the product of deliberation and close review of Mueller’s report and testimony. Many said they did not want their decisions to be interpreted as criticism of Pelosi or Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., whose panel would lead an impeachment, and none called for an interruption of the six-week recess to return to Washington to launch a formal investigation.
Some, in fact, delivered praise for Pelosi while breaking with her more-deliberate approach.
“I think she is phenomenal — you can put that in the paper,” said Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., who said in a statement last week that Congress “must stand up and demand accountability.”
Pelosi refused to answer questions about impeachment during an appearance on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
The speaker’s reluctance about impeachment is based in part on public opinion. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released last month showed that 59 percent of Americans believe that the House should not begin impeachment proceedings against Trump, while 37 percent believe that it should — including 61 percent of Democrats. As of Thursday, 117 of 235 House Democrats support an inquiry, according to a Washington Post tally.
But things could change, especially if the campaign waged by liberals gathers steam during the recess scheduled to continue until Sept. 9.
Among those newly backing an impeachment inquiry are two prominent House committee chairmen from New York, Eliot Engel of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Nita Lowey of the Appropriations Committee. Both face energetic Democratic opponents in next year’s elections.
Engel said Trump’s “repeated abuses have brought American democracy to a perilous crossroads. Following the guidance of the Constitution — which I have sworn to uphold — is the only way to achieve justice.”
A coalition of liberal activist groups — including Indivisible, a grassroots network that helped oust Republicans in dozens of House districts last year, and Need to Impeach, a group funded by billionaire and presidential hopeful Tom Steyer — launched the Impeachment August campaign Thursday aimed at helping activists confront lawmakers of both parties about impeachment at public events this month.
David Sievers, who is leading a pro-impeachment campaign for MoveOn.org, called the majority threshold a “major milestone” for House Democrats — one, he speculated, was reached in part because of the looming summer recess.
“I would not want to be in the minority of my party now as a holdout not supporting impeachment,” he said. “I think that members who were on the fence about this and were about to go home and spend time every day with their constituents probably didn’t want to have to explain why the documented criminality of the Trump administration was not enough to warrant an inquiry.”