House Democrats return to Capitol Hill this week under intense pressure from the party’s base to impeach President Trump.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who controls the House floor agenda, hasn’t backed down from her longstanding opposition to a formal impeachment probe.
But it will become more difficult to stave off the demands of the growing pro-impeachment wing in her caucus and the party’s vocal base.
The number of House Democrats supporting impeachment, or at least a formal impeachment inquiry, climbed to 137 over the summer recess, up from about 105 lawmakers who said they backed impeachment in late July.
The pro-impeachment faction now represents more than half the caucus.
Democrats were driven onto the impeachment bandwagon following former special counsel Robert Mueller’s July 24 testimony before the House Judiciary Committee and by progressive groups such as CREDO and MoveOn that coordinated to pressure lawmakers at summer town hall meetings “to open a formal impeachment inquiry now.”
Rep. Jennifer Wexton, who represents a competitive district in Northern Virginia, was among the lawmakers to sign on to impeachment over the summer.
“After much deliberation, I believe the time has come for the House of Representatives to assert our constitutional responsibility and begin an impeachment inquiry,” Wexton announced on July 30.
Progressive pressure will increase in September. Anti-Trump activists are planning a massive impeachment march in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21 aimed at ensuring they are “seen and heard” by lawmakers.
“We are marching to remind our elected officials that they work for us,” the We the People March website states. “We are marching because Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy and values. We are marching to demand action. Silence and inaction are complicity. “
Pro-impeachment Twitter users, meanwhile, are pressuring Pelosi with an #ImpeachTrumpNowNANCY hashtag.
While Pelosi has so far refused to hold a vote to open a formal impeachment inquiry, she can’t stop a Democrat from bringing articles of impeachment to the House floor through a procedural maneuver that would guarantee a vote.
Democrats have introduced articles of impeachment against Trump in the past without success.
The resolution has garnered increasing support each time, but a majority of lawmakers have always voted to table the move.
The House last voted on articles of impeachment in July. The measure was introduced by Rep. Al Green of Texas and was quickly blocked. Ninety-four Democrats voted against tabling Green’s resolution.
An impeachment vote this fall could win far more support.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York, who has privately implored Pelosi to open a formal impeachment inquiry, said he may bring up articles of impeachment himself based on a quasi-impeachment probe he’s been conducting.
“If we decide to report articles of impeachment, we could get to that late in the fall, in the latter part of the year,” Nadler told MSNBC last month.
Many more Democrats would likely vote for articles of impeachment introduced by Nadler because he has led the most wide-ranging and aggressive investigation into alleged wrongdoing by Trump involving his administration, business, and 2016 campaign.
Nadler has also been waging a fight in the courts against the Trump administration to gain access to documents and witnesses related to multiple probes, including whether Trump tried to obstruct the Mueller probe into alleged Russian collusion with the 2016 Trump campaign.
Nadler last month cited the possibility of the House impeaching Trump when he asked a federal judge to expedite consideration of a Judiciary Committee request that the court force former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify.
Nadler announced in August his impeachment inquiry has expanded. It now includes whether Trump authorized hush-money payments to Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film actress Stormy Daniels and will delve into whether Trump broke the law by calling for next year’s G-7 summit to take place at his South Florida golf resort.
Earlier this month, Nadler issued a subpoena to acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan over alleged “pardon dangling” related to Trump’s desire to build a southern border wall and stop the illegal immigration surge along the southwest border.
Nadler has also requested that four House committees investigating Trump share documents related to other Trump investigations, which would presumably provide the Judiciary Committee with more evidence to back impeachment. Those probes include Trump’s personal finances and his administration’s decision to ask a citizenship question on the census, among others.
Democrats credit Nadler for building the impeachment momentum.
“I give Chairman Nadler a lot of credit for being methodical, and now is the right time,” Rep. Ro Khanna of California told CNN.
