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Democrats, Once Wary of Partisan Impeachment Inquiry Vote, Unite as Politics Shift
Members who have long resisted a formal floor vote are now solidly behind the idea. The change reflects Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s close hold over her caucus.
WASHINGTON — House Democrats, who for weeks resisted a formal floor vote on their impeachment inquiry into President Trump, have united decisively behind the idea, a striking shift that reflects their growing confidence that the public supports their fact-finding mission into the president’s dealings with Ukraine.
At what Democrats described as a somber closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi outlined plans for a vote on Thursday to direct the House Intelligence Committee to conduct public hearings and produce a report to guide the Judiciary Committee as it considers whether to bring impeachment articles against Mr. Trump.
There was little dissent, even among the so-called front-line Democrats who have difficult races in swing districts, many of whom have fretted about drawing backlash from constituents who would rather they focus on policy than a likely futile effort to remove the president. As recently as two weeks ago, a tentative plan to hold a vote on the House floor about the inquiry drew a chorus of complaints from moderates, who privately told their leaders they had little interest in using floor time to call attention to the impeachment push.
Now, Democrats have warmed to the prospect.
“I’ve said from the beginning that anything that makes this process as fair and as transparent as possible is good for me and good for the voters,” said Representative Elissa Slotkin, Democrat of Michigan, who resisted an impeachment inquiry for months but ultimately called for one amid revelations of Mr. Trump’s efforts to enlist Ukraine to smear his political rivals.
The shift also reflects Ms. Pelosi’s close hold on and keen instincts about her fractious caucus, and the rapidly evolving politics of impeachment, captured in internal polls and focus groups. The result is that Democrats appear ready to call the bluff of the White House and Republicans, who have clamored for a vote to authorize the impeachment process but are now staunchly opposed to the Democrats’ resolution laying out rules to govern it.
The vote is expected to be deeply partisan, and a departure from past votes to begin impeachment proceedings against sitting presidents. Unlike those votes, the resolution scheduled for Thursday would not authorize the inquiry, a step that is not required under the Constitution or House rules and that Democrats have consistently said is not needed. Still, it will be the first time since Democrats began their inquiry into the Ukraine matter last month that the entire chamber will be asked to go on the record about the process, and is all but certain to be treated as a vote of approval or disapproval.
The measure would also provide a mechanism for Republicans to request subpoenas for witnesses and documents — a point that Ms. Pelosi emphasized on Wednesday during the closed-door session. Striking a sober tone, she also asked Representative Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri, who is a Methodist pastor, to deliver a prayer.
“Nobody came here to impeach a president, and no decision has been made to impeach the president,” she told members, according to an aide in the room who described her comments on the condition of anonymity because they were private. But, she added, a decision had been made to open the impeachment inquiry, “and now, we are putting forth the terms as to how we go forth in the fairest possible way.”
The vote comes in the wake of a series of bombshell revelations from witnesses, most recently on Tuesday from Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, a White House expert on Ukraine. Mr. Vindman told investigators that he “did not think it was proper” for Mr. Trump to have asked that country’s leader to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and that a White House transcript of a call between the two leaders, which he listened to, omitted key words and phrases.
“I think this vindicates the speaker’s strategy,” said Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California and an ally of Ms. Pelosi. “She has counseled a methodical, deliberative approach. She wanted to build the evidence, and she’s now gotten us in a place where we have almost the entire caucus behind us.”
“Had she jumped the gun as others were pressuring her to do,” Mr. Khanna added, “we wouldn’t have had this kind of unanimity.”
Still, there is a risk: If only Democrats vote in favor of the resolution, while some join Republicans in voting against — which appears likely — the partisan vote could buttress Republican arguments that the inquiry is a purely political exercise aimed solely at overturning the 2016 election. At least one Democrat, Representative Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, who is among the small group of lawmakers in his party still opposing the impeachment inquiry, intends to vote against the resolution.
Mr. Van Drew said he saw no redeeming value in moving forward, particularly with Mr. Trump likely to be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate. He sees the impeachment effort as undermining other important business.
“We spent a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of energy, unable to get an awful lot of things done that I think I would have loved to see because of it,” Mr. Van Drew said.
Past impeachment votes have generally been bipartisan. In February 1974, the House voted overwhelmingly, 410 to 4, to authorize the Judiciary Committee to investigate whether there were “sufficient grounds to impeach” President Richard M. Nixon. In September 1998, the House voted 363 to 63 to allow the Judiciary Committee to conduct a “deliberative review” of the independent counsel report that ultimately led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Polls show the public is sharply divided over impeachment along party lines. Nearly 84 percent of Democrats but just 11 percent of Republicans favor impeaching Mr. Trump, according to the website FiveThirtyEight, which tracks impeachment polling. Among independents, a crucial constituency, 46 percent favor impeachment.
But Democrats are buoyed by internal polling conducted by their campaign arm, which found that Democratic candidates lead Republican candidates by three percentage points in House battleground districts, and by eight points in all districts, according to a Democratic aide who spoke anonymously to share details of the private survey.
Nicholas Fandos contributed reporting.
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