Democrats finally voted to formalize their impeachment inquiry Thursday.
More than a month after Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unliterally began the process at a press conference, Democrats went on the record in support of the inquiry in a party-line vote that broke 232-196. Republicans have rejected the resolution as an attempt to legitimize a sham process that does not actually satisfy their grievances about transparency and fairness for President Trump.
Process already too tainted
The vote comes days after Pelosi abruptly announced Monday that Democrats would vote to establish ground rules for the inquiry, presumably with a view to quashing Republican complaints about the “Soviet-style” proceeding. Republicans have refused to co-operate with the process because Pelosi’s lack of a vote to formalize it and establish due process for Trump and Republican lawmakers.
But Republicans were not satisfied with news of the resolution, either, which they likened to an attempt to legitimize a process already tainted too deeply by partisanship. Those grievances echoed on the House floor Thursday, as Republicans accused their colleagues of attempting a “coup” against president Trump — as Pelosi dramatically invoked the preamble to the Constitution in a speech next to a poster of an American flag.
“A yes vote on this resolution today gives a stamp of approval to a process that has been damaged beyond all repair and a blatant and obvious coup to unseat a sitting president of the United States,” Rep. Ross Spano (R-FL) said.
Pelosi had resisted taking a vote for weeks to protect vulnerable Democrats from having to go on the record on impeachment, and her Democratic allies insisted that a vote was not required by the Constitution, precedent or House rules. But Republicans pointed to her reversal as an admission that the inquiry was illegitimate from the beginning.
Democrats showed signs of backsliding before the Thursday vote, as Pelosi insisted that the vote was not actually an “impeachment resolution,” in an apparent attempt to neuter the impression that Democrats were caving and voting to formalize the inquiry. Two Democrats in districts that Trump carried, Reps. Jeff Van Drew, D-(NJ) and Collin Peterson, (D-MN), voted no.
Republicans slam Schiff
There were few signs Thursday that Republicans were prepared to shift their tone. Conservative writer Byron York dubbed the resolution “The Adam Schiff Empowerment Act,” echoing complaints from Republicans that it does little to even the playing field for the GOP — even comparing Schiff to Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated Bill Clinton.
The resolution includes token concessions to Trump and his GOP allies, for example by allowing the ranking Republican on the Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Rep. Doug Collins (D-GA), to subpoena witnesses. But even that power is limited, as it requires them to have the consent of the committee chairs to call any witnesses, or failing that the full committee – and furthermore, the resolution is taking the Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees out of the picture, giving Schiff almost total control of the process.
Schiff will also be in control of planned public hearings, which Democrats will presumably use to dramatize the impeachment story to garner public support, and he is authorized — but not required — to release any transcripts of testimony given in private. When the “inquiry” is finished, Schiff will prepare his findings in a report with the Oversight and Foreign Affairs panels, and bring it to Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) Judiciary panel, the committee that has historically handled impeachment, to weigh articles of impeachment against Trump.
The powerful role given to Schiff will surely trouble Republicans, who have said that the Democrat cannot be trusted after he lied about having foreknowledge of the “whistleblower” and his complaint. The Judiciary panel’s ranking member, Doug Collins (R-GA), blasted Schiff for wanting to “be Ken Starr” and threatened to question him about his contacts with the whistleblower.
“Here’s my challenge to Mr. Schiff — you want to be Ken Starr, be Ken Starr. Come to the Judiciary Committee, be the first witness & take every question asked of you. Starting with your own involvement with the whistleblower. Folks, this ain’t over. Get ready.”
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