Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi barely mentioned the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump during her weekly press conference Thursday; instead, she focused on legislation she hopes to pass through the House.
As the House Judiciary Committee was marking up articles of impeachment, introduced by Democrats on Tuesday, Pelosi only mentioned impeachment once in her opening remarks to the press. Pelosi called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for claiming the House is only focused on impeachment, and then she quickly went back to speaking about legislation the House hopes to pass, such as Trump’s United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal.
This comes as a group of House Democrats are reportedly considering censuring President Trump instead of impeaching him.
A group of about 10 Democratic members of Congress, including New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader, New York Rep. Anthony Brindisi, and Utah Rep. Ben McAdams, are all reportedly open to a censure resolution of Trump instead of moving forward with impeachment, according to Politico.
Despite Pelosi’s early reluctance to push for impeachment, there are currently 228 Democrats who have voiced support for impeachment or an impeachment inquiry. Pelosi has said she believes Trump is “goading” Democrats to impeach him because he thinks it will help him fire up his base.
Democrats have continued to send congressional subpoenas to those close to Trump for documents related to the ongoing scandal regarding the president’s phone call with the president of Ukraine — specifically whether Trump asked him to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for U.S. military aid. The House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees are all investigating Trump, his cabinet members, and closest allies.
