House headed toward impeachment, Pelosi says
Democrats want Pence to declare Trump unfit for office
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed Sunday to push ahead with impeaching President Donald Trump if he is not removed from office first, adding a powerful voice to a debate that has begun to consume a Democratic Party both eager for impeachment and wary of it.
Her unexpected statement virtually ensures that the House will move forward with impeachment, even as tensions break out among Democrats over how aggressively to push for it. House members have insisted that Trump face consequences for inciting last week’s deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol, while President-elect Joe Biden has signaled that he does not want the effort to interfere with his agenda.
Both sides are treading carefully, aware that many voters hope Congress will prevent Trump from provoking further violence, but also want Biden to be free to take immediate action on the coronavirus pandemic and a faltering economy. Some Democrats said privately that they are wary of impeachment but unsure how to slow its momentum given intensifying passions against Trump.
The conflict presents Biden with his first test on what could be an early predicament facing his presidency: how hard to pursue accountability for Trump and those in his orbit.
“There has to be consequences, and that can take various forms,” said Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn. “Clearly impeachment has its own consequences, and we recognize that we don’t want to impact the Biden administration. And we want to ensure that whatever we pursue can be achieved.”
Pelosi, D-Calif., said Sunday that the House would “proceed with bringing impeachment legislation to the floor” but gave no firm timeline to do so. Instead she delivered an ultimatum to Vice President Mike Pence: Democrats plan to first pass a resolution calling on Pence and the Cabinet to remove Trump under the provisions of the 25th Amendment before proceeding with impeachment.
“As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this president is intensified and so is the immediate need for action,” she said.
In a sign of the Democrats’ struggles with the issue, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., a Biden ally and House leader, proposed Sunday that the House vote this week to impeach but wait a few months to submit the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial.
Those comments provoked widespread frustration among Democrats, according to aides and lawmakers, and they worried that Clyburn’s remarks would undermine the party’s case for
Trump’s quick removal: that he is an immediate danger to the nation.
But Clyburn’s suggestion was not universally spurned. Another House Democrat, Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, said in an interview Sunday that the House could delay transmitting the articles long enough to allow the Senate to confirm key national security nominees.
“We are witnessing the birth of a domestic terrorist movement in the United States … and it’s really important that we get Biden inaugurated, that he gets his Cabinet into place … as quickly as possible so we can address that threat,” said Crow, who supports a rapid impeachment. “And let’s not forget that we have foreign adversaries that are looking to take advantage of moments of weakness and distraction like we have right now.”
Some Democrats are looking to Biden to take a firm public stance and slam the brakes on impeachment, but top Democrats now see it as increasingly unlikely that the president-elect will go further than his measured warning on Friday that whatever else Congress does, it needs to “hit the ground running” on his agenda when he takes office.
“The train has left the station. I think many are worried about how it gets done, how it’s going to be handled, and how do we make sure it’s not going to divide the country further,” one Democrat said of impeachment. “It’s on a track that, while people have reservations, nobody knows how to stop it.”
On Monday morning, various House members plan to introduce responses to Wednesday’s assault on the Capitol and Trump’s role in encouraging it. Pelosi said Democrats would seek unanimous consent at a brief pro forma session to pass the 25th Amendment measure. Republicans probably will block that move, forcing a floor vote Tuesday.
The earliest action on impeachment could come Tuesday in the House Rules Committee, which would meet to prepare legislation for the House floor; actual votes on impeachment or other items can occur no sooner than Wednesday — a week before Biden’s inauguration.
As of Sunday afternoon, a draft impeachment resolution had garnered 210 co-sponsors in the House.