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.
Security guard fatally shot outside Houston restaurant after confrontation with suspect
China Detains More Underground Christians in January After Rounding up More Than 100 in December
Watch: Here’s the Key Moment in ICE Shooting Video the Pros Missed, and It Changes Everything – God Himself Saved That Officer’s Life
Lindsey Graham says Trump backs Russia sanctions bill
Christian author confesses years-long extramarital affair, declaring he ‘disqualified’ himself from ministry
US may be involved in Venezuela for years, Trump says
Judge Cuts Off Maduro in Court as He Tries to Defend Himself
CNN Analyst Disappoints Dems: Support for Maduro Ousting ‘Through the Roof’ After Trump Admin Capture
GOP faces test on Trump’s Venezuela military action after Maduro capture
Trump’s California fraud claims may inadvertently help Newsom as feud rages
Al Gore sounds ‘climate crisis’ alarm as Trump yanks US from UN initiatives
Shapiro kicks off 2026 re-election as 2028 White House buzz swirls
Senate Democrats spent lavishly on luxury retreats during government shutdown, filings show
Photos released of Renee Nicole Good, the US citizen killed by ICE in Minnesota
Shooting outside Salt Lake City LDS church leaves at least 2 dead, 6 injured: police
…
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:
Security guard fatally shot outside Houston restaurant after confrontation with suspect
China Detains More Underground Christians in January After Rounding up More Than 100 in December
Watch: Here’s the Key Moment in ICE Shooting Video the Pros Missed, and It Changes Everything – God Himself Saved That Officer’s Life
Lindsey Graham says Trump backs Russia sanctions bill
Christian author confesses years-long extramarital affair, declaring he ‘disqualified’ himself from ministry
US may be involved in Venezuela for years, Trump says
Judge Cuts Off Maduro in Court as He Tries to Defend Himself
CNN Analyst Disappoints Dems: Support for Maduro Ousting ‘Through the Roof’ After Trump Admin Capture
GOP faces test on Trump’s Venezuela military action after Maduro capture
Trump’s California fraud claims may inadvertently help Newsom as feud rages
Al Gore sounds ‘climate crisis’ alarm as Trump yanks US from UN initiatives
Shapiro kicks off 2026 re-election as 2028 White House buzz swirls
Senate Democrats spent lavishly on luxury retreats during government shutdown, filings show
Photos released of Renee Nicole Good, the US citizen killed by ICE in Minnesota
Shooting outside Salt Lake City LDS church leaves at least 2 dead, 6 injured: police
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.
