Democrats say they’re at an
Several key House Democrats are itching to launch an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants aren’t on board yet.
It’s no longer just a small group of progressive members calling for an impeachment inquiry; numerous members of the important House Judiciary Committee say Congress should launch one. The tipping point for multiple Judiciary members came after former White House counsel Don McGahn declined to testify in front of their committee on Tuesday.
“We simply cannot allow the executive branch to decide what Congress will receive in terms of witnesses and documents as we do our oversight work,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), one of the Judiciary Committee members pushing for the inquiry. “If we allow the executive branch to do that, they can effectively extinguish congressional oversight.”
A potential impeachment inquiry is now about much more than the Russia investigation or the Mueller report. It’s based on Democrats’ deep concern about the Trump administration obstructing congressional investigations at every turn. Democrats believe the Trump White House must be held accountable for continuing to flout the US Constitution and act above the law.
“I think we have to,” said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), the vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee. “I think we’re at an inflection point. We’re no longer just dealing with a president who obstructed the Mueller inquiry. He’s now obstructing Congress at every turn, including telling witnesses who no longer work for the government that they cannot speak about public documents.”
Even though more House Judiciary members are calling for an impeachment inquiry, the committee chair, Jerry Nadler (D-NY), hasn’t yet publicly gotten on board. And there’s a larger divide among the Democratic caucus. Other members, including those in leadership, are hesitant.
“I think the majority of Democrats continue to believe we need to continue to pursue the avenue that we’ve been on, trying to elicit information, testimony… if the facts lead us to broader action, so be it,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday.
Even Democrats calling for the new inquiry are careful to frame it as just an inquiry — not a rush to pass articles of impeachment. They believe it would help Congress gather more facts, using the law around impeachment to compel Trump to comply with subpoena requests after the president issued a blanket denial.
