House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Democrats are privately discussing the creation of a select committee to conduct the possible impeachment of President Trump, according to multiple lawmakers and congressional aides, underscoring the momentum in the chamber to oust the president.
The California Democrat has spoken to key allies in recent days about establishing a special panel rather than leaving the task with the House Judiciary Committee, said several Democratic officials. Nothing has been decided, the individuals cautioned, but some members are expected to publicly endorse the move soon.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely describe private deliberations. Pelosi’s office declined to comment on the matter.
Pelosi has been reluctant to endorse impeachment, resisting the extraordinary step for months despite pressure from the party’s liberal base and several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. She has argued that neither the public nor the Republican Party, which controls the Senate, supports impeachment and that could prove politically costly to the moderate Democrats who helped deliver the House majority last year.
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Recent reports, however, that Trump may have used his power to pressure a foreign leader to investigate a domestic political foe, former vice president Joe Biden and his family, have galvanized the push for impeachment.
Trump has denied that he used foreign aid as leverage, though he did confirm Tuesday that he withheld foreign aid to Ukraine.
“There was no quid pro quo,” Trump told reporters at the U.N. in New York. “There was no pressure applied, nothing.”
[Trump confirms he withheld military aid from Ukraine, says he wants other countries to help pay]
In the past few days, Pelosi has been sounding out Democrats about whether to proceed on impeachment.
The creation of a special committee is a likely topic at a series of Democratic meetings planned for Tuesday afternoon, when Pelosi will address her caucus on impeachment for the first time since the news broke.
But the notion of a select committee is already causing consternation in the Democratic caucus and has the potential to spark a turf war about who will take the lead in the process. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted that Democrats “don’t have the luxury of time w/ another committee,” backing the House Judiciary Committee’s claim to oversee the proceedings.
“Judiciary has been investigating& putting the pieces together for months,” she wrote. “Impeachment belongs there. We must honor jurisdiction, historical precedent,& work done + allow Judiciary to move forward.”
In the past 48 hours, a tranche of Democrats who opposed impeachment have come out in favor of an inquiry, with more than 150 out of 235, according to a Washington Post analysis.
[Analysis | The House Democrats who want to open an impeachment inquiry into Trump]
“The first responsibility of the President of the United States is to keep our country safe, but it has become clear that our president has placed his personal interests above the national security of our nation,” wrote Rep. Anthony Delgado (D-N.Y.), a longtime impeachment skeptic from a district that backed Trump in 2016. He came out for impeachment Tuesday morning. “I believe articles of impeachment are warranted,” he wrote
“The dam has broken,” Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) said Tuesday morning, summing up the sentiment of most Democrats Monday night and Tuesday. Even House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the House Democrats’ top spokesman, used the phrase “impeachment investigation” for perhaps the first time in a tweet Tuesday morning, signaling once again that a major shift has taken place in the minds of Democratic leaders on matters of impeachment.
“The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to rein in a lawless president,” Jeffries said. “We will do our job #ImpeachmentInvestigation.”
The creation of a select committee would be a blow to the House Judiciary Committee, which has taken the lead on the Democratic investigations and has already discussed possible articles, even hiring outside counsel to lead a possible impeachment.
But some senior Democrats have been unhappy with how the panel has handled its investigative work and hearings, blaming the committee for the House’s failure to move public sentiment in favor of impeachment in recent months.
Atop that, the dynamic between Pelosi, a longtime impeachment skeptic, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has been tense in recent weeks, as the New York Democrat pushed the speaker to embrace impeachment proceedings before she was ready. For months, Pelosi refused, even as she signed off on the committee’s work and legal arguments suggesting that an impeachment inquiry was already underway.
Privately, Pelosi took jabs at Nadler, telling lawmakers recently that only the full House could say that the chamber was impeaching the president. The comments were first reported by Politico.
The Judiciary Committee did not respond to request for comment. But the panel’s recent questioning of former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, while seen as a political circus, yielded results at the end of the hearing, when a staff lawyer was able to get Lewandowski to confirm allegations of potential obstruction by the president, prompting Democrats outside the panel to suggest that the committee should have its lawyers lead, not members.
A select committee would give her more power over the process. Pelosi would be able to name the lawmakers on the committee, for example. Many say she’s already eyeing a way to give House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), one of her closest allies, a greater role in any investigation.
The idea could run into resistance not only from Judiciary Democrats who want to protect their turf but from other lawmakers. Connolly, for instance, expressed concern that there was not enough time to create a select committee. The House, he said, needs to move now to impeach.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...6f735a-dedf-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html
The California Democrat has spoken to key allies in recent days about establishing a special panel rather than leaving the task with the House Judiciary Committee, said several Democratic officials. Nothing has been decided, the individuals cautioned, but some members are expected to publicly endorse the move soon.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely describe private deliberations. Pelosi’s office declined to comment on the matter.
Pelosi has been reluctant to endorse impeachment, resisting the extraordinary step for months despite pressure from the party’s liberal base and several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. She has argued that neither the public nor the Republican Party, which controls the Senate, supports impeachment and that could prove politically costly to the moderate Democrats who helped deliver the House majority last year.
ADVERTISING
Recent reports, however, that Trump may have used his power to pressure a foreign leader to investigate a domestic political foe, former vice president Joe Biden and his family, have galvanized the push for impeachment.
Trump has denied that he used foreign aid as leverage, though he did confirm Tuesday that he withheld foreign aid to Ukraine.
“There was no quid pro quo,” Trump told reporters at the U.N. in New York. “There was no pressure applied, nothing.”
[Trump confirms he withheld military aid from Ukraine, says he wants other countries to help pay]
In the past few days, Pelosi has been sounding out Democrats about whether to proceed on impeachment.
The creation of a special committee is a likely topic at a series of Democratic meetings planned for Tuesday afternoon, when Pelosi will address her caucus on impeachment for the first time since the news broke.
But the notion of a select committee is already causing consternation in the Democratic caucus and has the potential to spark a turf war about who will take the lead in the process. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted that Democrats “don’t have the luxury of time w/ another committee,” backing the House Judiciary Committee’s claim to oversee the proceedings.
“Judiciary has been investigating& putting the pieces together for months,” she wrote. “Impeachment belongs there. We must honor jurisdiction, historical precedent,& work done + allow Judiciary to move forward.”
In the past 48 hours, a tranche of Democrats who opposed impeachment have come out in favor of an inquiry, with more than 150 out of 235, according to a Washington Post analysis.
[Analysis | The House Democrats who want to open an impeachment inquiry into Trump]
“The first responsibility of the President of the United States is to keep our country safe, but it has become clear that our president has placed his personal interests above the national security of our nation,” wrote Rep. Anthony Delgado (D-N.Y.), a longtime impeachment skeptic from a district that backed Trump in 2016. He came out for impeachment Tuesday morning. “I believe articles of impeachment are warranted,” he wrote
“The dam has broken,” Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) said Tuesday morning, summing up the sentiment of most Democrats Monday night and Tuesday. Even House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the House Democrats’ top spokesman, used the phrase “impeachment investigation” for perhaps the first time in a tweet Tuesday morning, signaling once again that a major shift has taken place in the minds of Democratic leaders on matters of impeachment.
“The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility to rein in a lawless president,” Jeffries said. “We will do our job #ImpeachmentInvestigation.”
The creation of a select committee would be a blow to the House Judiciary Committee, which has taken the lead on the Democratic investigations and has already discussed possible articles, even hiring outside counsel to lead a possible impeachment.
But some senior Democrats have been unhappy with how the panel has handled its investigative work and hearings, blaming the committee for the House’s failure to move public sentiment in favor of impeachment in recent months.
Atop that, the dynamic between Pelosi, a longtime impeachment skeptic, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler has been tense in recent weeks, as the New York Democrat pushed the speaker to embrace impeachment proceedings before she was ready. For months, Pelosi refused, even as she signed off on the committee’s work and legal arguments suggesting that an impeachment inquiry was already underway.
Privately, Pelosi took jabs at Nadler, telling lawmakers recently that only the full House could say that the chamber was impeaching the president. The comments were first reported by Politico.
The Judiciary Committee did not respond to request for comment. But the panel’s recent questioning of former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, while seen as a political circus, yielded results at the end of the hearing, when a staff lawyer was able to get Lewandowski to confirm allegations of potential obstruction by the president, prompting Democrats outside the panel to suggest that the committee should have its lawyers lead, not members.
A select committee would give her more power over the process. Pelosi would be able to name the lawmakers on the committee, for example. Many say she’s already eyeing a way to give House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), one of her closest allies, a greater role in any investigation.
The idea could run into resistance not only from Judiciary Democrats who want to protect their turf but from other lawmakers. Connolly, for instance, expressed concern that there was not enough time to create a select committee. The House, he said, needs to move now to impeach.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...6f735a-dedf-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html
