Some House Democrats are privately calling on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to hold a vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry to undermine Republican criticism that the process is illegitimate, Politico reported this week.
So far, Pelosi has refused to schedule a vote, arguing that the Constitution and House rules do not require the lawmakers to do so.
Meanwhile, the White House and its Republican congressional allies contend that such a vote is necessary to legitimize the inquiry per the recognized standards of previous impeachment efforts.
Politico reported:
Some Democratic lawmakers and aides have begun to say privately — and, to a lesser extent, publicly — that the House should just vote to formalize the inquiry, robbing the GOP of its main talking point.
Knife-wielding man races at officer in packed seaside park before one deadly shot rings out: video
Uninvited woman enters Kamala Harris’ Malibu property prompting sheriff response: reports
Son of notorious Somali dictator reportedly living in Ohio decades after brutal regime’s collapse
The Fentanyl Crisis May Be Coming to an End But Kratom Is Ready to Take It’s Place
Video Puts US Military Power on Full Display, Shows Total Missile-Strike Destruction of Iran Tankers
Sick: At 9:11 PM on 25th Anniversary of 9/11, Man Runs on Field at Yankee Stadium With Palestinian Flag
Nuns Fight Back Against Law Forcing Them to Help Patients Kill Themselves
Four Wisconsin cops injured after suspected drunk driver barrels toward crowd, sparks police chase
Ohio man convicted after trying to shoot ex-wife at point-blank range inside restaurant in chilling video
Cruz faces rowdy crowd at College GameDay while promoting the Protect College Sports Act
‘Just Because They Hated Guns’: Trump Pardons Sailor Biden’s ATF Put Away for 20 Years Over a Toy Gun
Dem handlers lash out when Ramaswamy staffer confronts their boss about debate: ‘No pictures’
Blue state governor’s pardon of convicted felon torpedos a major Supreme Court immigration fight
Trump says a united Ireland would be ‘fantastic’
This Couple Trapped Children in a Trailer for Years: Now Florida Is Seeking the Death Penalty
…
Though a small but growing chorus of Democrats has started urging a vote simply to undercut this GOP talking point, others say that nothing will stop Trump and his supporters from claiming Democrats’ efforts are unfair and inconsistent with past impeachment procedures. They say the party shouldn’t take the White House’s bait, arguing that the president’s defenders will simply find other reasons to not comply with the inquiry.
The “private” debate on whether or not to hold a vote “is threatening to cleave Democrats’ unified front” in favor of impeachment, the news outlet added.
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) publicly called for a vote, telling Politico,“If Nancy asked me, I would say sure, let’s have a vote. Everybody’s on record, so they’re not going to vote any differently. What’s the danger in having a vote to formalize it?”
House lawmakers voted to allow an investigation into whether to impeach President Bill Clinton and President Richard Nixon. Republicans have pointed to those votes as evidence that Democrats are acting in an unfair and illegitimate manner.
Politico noted:
Knife-wielding man races at officer in packed seaside park before one deadly shot rings out: video
Uninvited woman enters Kamala Harris’ Malibu property prompting sheriff response: reports
Son of notorious Somali dictator reportedly living in Ohio decades after brutal regime’s collapse
The Fentanyl Crisis May Be Coming to an End But Kratom Is Ready to Take It’s Place
Video Puts US Military Power on Full Display, Shows Total Missile-Strike Destruction of Iran Tankers
Sick: At 9:11 PM on 25th Anniversary of 9/11, Man Runs on Field at Yankee Stadium With Palestinian Flag
Nuns Fight Back Against Law Forcing Them to Help Patients Kill Themselves
Four Wisconsin cops injured after suspected drunk driver barrels toward crowd, sparks police chase
Ohio man convicted after trying to shoot ex-wife at point-blank range inside restaurant in chilling video
Cruz faces rowdy crowd at College GameDay while promoting the Protect College Sports Act
‘Just Because They Hated Guns’: Trump Pardons Sailor Biden’s ATF Put Away for 20 Years Over a Toy Gun
Dem handlers lash out when Ramaswamy staffer confronts their boss about debate: ‘No pictures’
Blue state governor’s pardon of convicted felon torpedos a major Supreme Court immigration fight
Trump says a united Ireland would be ‘fantastic’
This Couple Trapped Children in a Trailer for Years: Now Florida Is Seeking the Death Penalty
Democrats have long argued that they don’t need a vote to launch formal impeachment proceedings, even if that had been the practice in prior presidential impeachment processes. In fact, House lawyers backed by Pelosi have made that argument in a succession of court cases seeking evidence to support their impeachment inquiry, and proponents of that position worry a formal vote would undercut their legal claims.
Similarly, Democrats are worried that a near-term floor vote would drive away a handful of Republicans who are wavering over whether to support impeachment proceedings. A party-line vote would hand the White House another talking point, they argue: that impeachment is a purely partisan effort by Democrats.
In a letter to Pelosi and the House chairmen pursuing the impeachment inquiry, the White House said the Democrats were conducting a “constitutionally invalid” and “illegitimate” impeachment probe that absolves lawmakers of “taking political accountability.”
The White House said it would not cooperate with the ongoing “partisan” impeachment investigation. Although the letter stopped short of explicitly calling on Pelosi to hold a vote, it all but dared the Speaker to do so.
Most of the 235 members of the House Democratic Caucus support the impeachment probe, but there are still eight who did not, as of Thursday afternoon, a tally from the New York Times revealed.
Story cited here.
