Of the 114 Democrats who sit on the six committees investigating Trump, more than half publicly support launching a formal impeachment inquiry
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a ready-made reply when pressed on impeaching President Donald Trump: Democrats have tasked six powerful committees with investigating Trump’s conduct, and they’ll “follow the facts” to chart a course for the House.
Yet of the 114 Democrats who sit on the committees, almost half — 50 — publicly support launching a formal impeachment inquiry, with several others privately considering joining them in the coming days or weeks. For now, Pelosi remains unmoved, concerned that any political blowback could cost Democrats their House majority. And while the rank-and-file on the committees are warming to impeachment, the chairmen mostly remain in Pelosi’s camp — an important bulwark for the speaker.
The group of Democrats favoring impeachment proceedings is surprisingly ideologically diverse. It includes some of the most progressive members of the House Democratic caucus — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib — and lawmakers who have been designated by their own party as five of the most vulnerable in 2020: Reps. Katie Porter , Tom Malinowski , Debbie Mucarsel-Powell , Sean Casten , and Harley Rouda .
Other lawmakers and aides say Pelosi’s deference to the six committees is really code for her reliance on the six committee chairs — who are constantly taking the temperature of their colleagues and reporting back to her. These trusted lieutenants meet with Pelosi weekly to discuss investigative strategy, and most have hewed closely to her position on impeachment.Of the six, only Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters , has called for Trump’s impeachment.
“My personal position does not derive from being on an oversight committee,” Malinowski said in an interview. “It was not just the Mueller report. It was the continued obstruction of the investigations and the oversight requests.”
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