Dem Leaders Expect a Group of Swing-State Lawmakers to Defect on Impeachment Vote
By: TOBIAS HOONHOUT
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
House Democrats are worried that the caucus could lose six or more moderate votes on impeachment, according to multiple officials who spoke anonymously to the Washington Post .
When the House voted to formalize impeachment on October 31, all but two Democrats — Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin C. Peterson of Michigan — voted with House leadership. Amidst concerns from moderates, who on Monday considered reviving a proposal to censure President Trump rather than impeach him , the fate of the impeachment vote is a bit less certain.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could afford to lose 17 votes and still prevail with the vote, which will likely get the approval of former Republican Justin Amash. But House leadership is not whipping votes to ensure success, despite Pelosi saying in July that “censure is nice, but it is not commensurate with the violations of the Constitution should we decide [impeachment is] the way to go.”
“This is one of those issues where members have to come to their own conclusions; it’s just too consequential,” Daniel Kildee (D., Mich.), a deputy whip, said. “I think this is one of those votes where people are going to be remembered for a long time for how they voted on it.”
Moderates who initially voiced support for impeachment have been worried over polling which shows that support for impeachment has largely flatlined after the public hearings, the Post reports . Republican efforts to reclaim the House in 2020 have zeroed in on impeachment to target vulnerable districts, with the White House joining in in October.
On Tuesday, freshman Representative Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.) — who represents a district which voted for Trump in 2016 — said she was “undecided” on the vote , despite signing a September op-ed in support of impeachment. Slotkin was heckled by constituents during a town hall in October for her impeachment defense, and said Wednesday that “the phones are ringing off the hook” from people on both sides of the issue.
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This "impeachment vote" will be taken when Pelosi has the required votes, but there will be defections in the democratic ranks. Those moderate democrats who won the House for the democratic party know what happened to so many House democrats when Pelosi forced them to vote for "Obamacare". Some are not willing to end their political careers for angry progressives. Watch the polling on impeachment.
Rules on civility will be strictly enforced
It will be interesting to see what happens, they know it is dead on arrival in the senate. As you said do they want to put their neck out knowing it will be a fruitless effort?
It may get more fruitless as time goes on - watch those polls!
At this point they have no choice. The House Democrats have rolled all of their hopes into Impeachment. If they fail in the House Pelosi can kiss the gavel goodbye; and many swing state Democrats could still lose their jobs in the primaries.
They put themselves out on this limb and are eagerly sawing it off.
They have to pass it and send it to the Senate. Even if that means they are made to look like bigger fools than they already are. At least they can try and twist the arms of Senate Democrats to vote along party lines to bail them out. Then they can try and blame the failure strictly on the Republicans.
If they had studied history they would realize that it didn't work for the Republicans when they impeached Clinton in the House just to have Democrats block it in the Senate. They had a much stronger case, and presented mountains of evidence. Failure cost them the House, and eventually the Senate.
Whether the US voters will appreciate the Democrats wasting this much time and money remains to be seen.
She is my rep. I hope she does understand the weight of her vote.
I don't think any one of the 31 moderates has announced which way they will vote. I'm glad I'm not in their shoes.
There are some that actually think the lemmings, I mean some democrats, will think for themselves? WOW! Has that ever happened before?
Moderates are different than progressives. Progressives tend to follow the Pelosi idea of unity gives us strength. Even here we have a solid 6 pack.
Final Thoughts:
The Supreme Court is now hearing appeals from the President's lawyers in three cases involving efforts to gain access to his financial records, setting up a landmark separation of powers showdown. The fact that they are hearing the appeals undermines the dems "abuse of power" article. Some obviously don't want to defend what has turned into a fools errand by democrats. I hate to be right so often, but this outrageous attempt to weaken the President will cost the democrats not only the Presidency, but the House, which they only won last year and which they have used as the launch pad for impeachment.