House Democrats defended the celebratory nature of a signing ceremony sending two impeachment articles against President Trump to the Senate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday handed out 24 black pens to her fellow Democratic caucus member, embossed with her signature, which she used to sign the impeachment resolution.
House Republican leadership in both chambers chastised Pelosi and her fellow Democrats about the signing ceremony.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was an example of Democrats not recognizing the “gravity and seriousness” about impeaching the president, who faces two charges in the Ukraine military aid affair.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, on Thursday, called the event a “taxpayer-funded campaign stunt.”
“Democrats rammed impeachment down the throats of the American people. If this was real, if this was really as serious as a claim this would be, yesterday was no cause for celebration. But in that case, Democrats did what you would expect in a campaign event,” McCarthy told reporters. “They posed for pictures, smiled, handed out gifts to one another, and Speaker Pelosi even fist-pumped on the House floor during what should have been a serious debate.”
Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro took offense to the characterization Republicans made of the signing ceremony.
“No one has celebrated this effort, and the speaker has followed the rule of law. No one celebrates this — whatever the interpretation is, it’s erroneous,” DeLauro told the Washington Examiner. “No one’s giggling around here about impeaching the president of the United States.”
Washington State Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, co-chairwoman of the House Progressive Caucus, said that she thinks most people were unaware of what signing ceremonies looked like.
“I don’t think it was an image of celebrating. I think a lot of times, those ceremonies aren’t covered because nobody really noticed. That’s the same thing that happens with every signing ceremony, is that pens are used — different pens are used, and so I just think most of the time those things aren’t covered,” Jayapal told the Washington Examiner. “So perhaps that was a new thing for people to see. But it’s never been a celebration. None of us came to Congress wanting to impeach a president.”
