The liberal effort to impeach President Trump passed a significant milestone, with a majority of the House’s controlling Democrat caucus backing the scheme.
“The number of House Democrats who support impeachment proceedings passed the halfway mark — 118 out of 235 voting members now support the effort — on Thursday when Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida announced his support,” POLITICO reports.
“The remedies for presidential misconduct, including impeachment, are in Congress’s hands. Now that we have Special Counsel Mueller’s report and testimony, it is time for the witnesses of the president’s wrongdoing to appear before the committee as part of our ongoing investigation,” Deutch said in a column appearing in Fort Lauderdale’s Sun-Sentinel newspaper, titled “No more debate. Impeachment inquiry is underway.”
While 118 votes are not enough to pass Articles of Impeachment, having a “majority of the majority” means impeachment supporters could have enough votes to launch formal impeachment hearings.
“In a sign of a shifting dynamic for House Democrats, though, Pelosi last week signed off on a legal argument lodged by the Judiciary Committee to obtain Mueller’s secret grand jury evidence. That argument indicated to a judge that the Judiciary Committee is already weighing whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump,” POLITICO notes.
“Perhaps more significant than the number of Democrats backing an inquiry are the identities of the members themselves. The latest additions include Reps. Mike Levin of California, Jennifer Wexton of Virginia and Jason Crow of Colorado, three freshmen who flipped Republican-held districts in November. Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, a member of Pelosi’s leadership team, added her name to the list,” POLITICO reports.
“Engel, a veteran lawmaker from New York City, is also one of six committee chiefs tasked by Pelosi with investigating Trump’s conduct. He’s the second of those committee leaders, along with Rep. Maxine Waters of California, to publicly demand an impeachment inquiry. Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has privately advocated for one as well,” POLITICO added.
Many Democrats are holding back support for impeachment believing Trump’s re-election is not certain, and voters may remove him without House Democrats having to get their hands dirty.
If Trump were to be re-elected it would be almost certain wavering Democrats would back impeachment.
And while public opinion is firmly against impeachment and would likely backfire on Democrats, if Trump’s re-election were to appear certain Democrats may gamble and launch hearings, in the hopes the hearings could turn public opinion against him.
AAN Staff
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