Top House Democrats are shooting down chatter from caucus members who are pushing for the impeachment of President Trump.
Led by House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Democrats are reiterating that it is too early to discuss possible impeachment of Trump after Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., introduced an article of impeachment on Monday.
“We pursue the facts vigorously and comprehensively,” Hoyer said. “We believe strongly that the discussion about impeachment is not timely until some of the facts are fully garnered.”
“Impeachment is one of the most serious actions the Congress can take in a democracy… and we’re not there yet,” Hoyer said. “Every member will have to answer themselves to their constituents and tell them where they are, their position, and I think, frankly, they’ll all each make that judgement. We’re not recommending what members say.”
The issue reportedly came up in the House Democrats’ weekly caucus meeting Tuesday morning, where Rep. Mike Capuano, D-Mass., said that the entire caucus should have discussed Sherman’s decision to bring articles of impeachment to the floor before any action was taken. The majority of members — outside of Sherman, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif. — have avoided talking about the issue.
“Emotions are high. These issues have political implications and government ones,” Capuano said. He said there must be “a discussion within the caucus, in a public forum, before we do something that would position our colleagues or our future colleagues.”
“There was no direct conversation or indirect conversation between Mr. Capuano or any other member. I think Mr. Capuano was speaking generally… on issues of this magnitude that we need to have a conversation within the caucus before something like that moves forward,” said Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., who chairs the House Democratic caucus. “I think that’s legitimate.”
“Consensus in the caucus, as I see it, is let the special prosecutor do his work,” he added.
In his announcement of the articles of impeachment Monday, Sherman acknowledged that it is a slim-to-none chance that the president will be impeached by a Republican-led House, but said that he wanted to get the ball rolling on the issue.
