House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler says any impeachment vote would likely happen before the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee is decided.
“Candidates for the president are going to run on whatever they run on,” the New York Democrat told the Washington Examiner, when asked about overlap. “By the time of the campaign, the president will or will not have been impeached.”
Sitting lawmakers, such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts or Bernie Sanders of Vermont, would face more pressure than out-of-office rivals, such as former Vice President Joe Biden.
“It will be a moot issue at that point, and unless the candidate is a member of the House who has to vote or is in the Senate, then they’ll have to vote,” Nadler said.
When pressed by reporters if there was a timeline on when articles of impeachment could be voted on, Nadler could not confirm that but would only say, “As rapidly as possible.”
Democrats running for the White House in the primary who support an impeachment inquiry, and are currently in office, include Warren, Sanders, California Sen. Kamala Harris, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Several other 2020 Democrats also support an impeachment investigation, including former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro.
Biden said in June that if Trump does not cooperate with the House investigation then “Congress has no option but to begin impeachment inquiry.”
