House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) dismissed rumors of a Democrat party divided by the far-left flank’s impeachment efforts, assuring reporters Democrats “all work together on these things.”
Pelosi denied House Democrats are divided over the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment drive, refusing to elaborate on the initiative but assuring that Democrats are together as one.
“I think you should characterize it [the resolution] for what it is,” Pelosi told Fox News. “It’s a continuation of what we have been doing. You know, we all work together on these things”:
Pelosi’s dismissive remarks follow Chairman Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) efforts to give impeachment new life. The committee is expected to vote on a resolution laying the groundwork for its impeachment probe despite the move remaining highly unpopular among Americans, as recent polls indicate. Nadler’s move is relatively out of order, as the full House has yet to take a full vote on impeaching the president. About 135 representatives support impeachment, bringing them 83 votes short of a majority.
“Without a majority support in the House, Nadler is effectively skipping the first step to begin an impeachment inquiry,” Breitbart News reported:
The committee has a draft resolution that will formalize procedures for the so-called impeachment proceedings, which Democrats believe will speed up the committee’s work.
The resolution, according to a copy obtained and published by Politico, would allow Nadler to designate subcommittees to conduct hearings to allow the investigation to move faster; allow staff in addition to lawmakers to question witnesses to allow for more questioning; set standards for information collected by the committee; and give Trump and his lawyers due process and allow them to offer input on the findings.
Pelosi has been notoriously hesitant to pursue impeachment in months past, telling Democrats in a caucus-wide call last month the general public “isn’t there” on impeachment and urging them to give her leverage.
“The public isn’t there on impeachment. It’s your voice and constituency, but give me the leverage I need to make sure that we’re ready and it is as strong as it can be,” Pelosi said.
“The equities we have to weigh are our responsibility to protect and defend the Constitution and to be unifying and not dividing. But if and when we act, people will know he gave us no choice,” she added.
Nadler told the Washington Examiner Tuesday an impeachment vote will likely happen before the Democrat primary is over.
“Candidates for the president are going to run on whatever they run on,” he told the Examiner. “By the time of the campaign, the president will or will not have been impeached.”