‘Pray for me’: State delegation faced vote for the history books
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes hadn’t planned to take calls from constituents in the hectic hours before the most consequential vote of her political career.
But when the freshman Democrat walked off the House floor and into her office Wednesday, she overheard an aide engaged in a contentious conversation with a caller critical of her decision to support impeaching President Donald Trump.
The congresswoman took the phone and listened to the caller’s concerns. “I’m not hiding from this vote,” Hayes said later. “Some people were very upset, and some people were very supportive but I wanted to hear from [all] of them.”
Like the other four Democrats
who make up the state's congressional delegation, Hayes believes impeachment is warranted, based on the evidence laid out during hearings on the president's conduct.
But embedded within that strong conviction is a fear that Wednesday's vote will lead to more political polarization in a country that is already starkly divided along partisan lines.
“We're hearing the same thing over and over,” Hayes said. “I recognize there's … going to be a lot of healing that's going to take place.”
Unlike other parts of Connecticut, where Democrats hold a strong advantage, the 5th District shades purple. Stretching from New Britain to Danbury and including the hill towns of Litchfield County and the urban centers of Meriden and Waterbury, the district narrowly went for Hillary Clinton in 2016. (She won the 5th District by about 4 points and Connecticut as a whole by 13.6 points.)
Hayes took her time to come to a decision on impeachment, announcing
she would support the case against Trump just a week before Wednesday's vote.
“This is not partisan for me,” Hayes said.
She rejects critics who told her she is taking marching orders from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic
leaders pressing impeachment.
“My vote is an independent decision,” Hayes said. “It's not lockstep with anyone.”
Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat from Greenwich, was the first member of the Connecticut dele
gation to publicly endorse impeachment proceedings against the president.
On Wednesday, Himes, a member of the House intelligence committee, told his colleagues that impeaching Trump was necessary to preserve American democracy.
“What makes this impeachment essential is that the president's abuse of power has not stopped,” Himes said on the House floor.
“As we speak, he continues to urge foreign interference in our democracy, beseeching China to investigate the Bidens, sending Rudy Giuliani overseas to chase Russian conspiracy theories.”
Trump, Himes said, “sees nothing wrong with inviting Russian, Ukrainian or Chinese interference into our elections. He did it, he continues to do it and … he'll do it again if we don't stop him today.
“Therein lies our hope,” Himes concluded. “I'm proud today to answer the call to defend our democracy and the United States constitution.”
Rep. John Larson, whose Hartford-centered district is decidedly tilted toward Democrats, acknowledged that some people excuse Trump's actions, saying he's a businessman, not a politician.
“I realize there are people who feel strongly and differently than I do, but to do nothing, to take no vote, is in essence condoning this behavior that disregards our Constitution,”
Larson said. “For a democracy to work in a system of check and balances, no one is above the law. The President takes an oath of allegiance to the United States Constitution; there are no exceptions for the art of the deal.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the dean of the Connecticut delegation and the only representative who served in the House the last time a president was impeached, said members of Congress took an oath to uphold the Constitution.
“The president of the United States has abused his power,” DeLauro told Fox 61. “He used his office to engage a foreign country into our elections, not for national security, not in the interest of his country, but for his own personal, political gain.”
Wednesday's vote marks just the third time in U.S. history that a president was impeached. Hayes said she was struck by the momentousness of the occasion as the House clerk read the full articles of impeachment.
On Twitter, Hayes made an appeal for prayers and understanding.
“I pray for you every day,” she tweeted. “Please pray for me today.”