Pelosi Announces House Vote on Trump Impeachment Inquiry This Week

by Countable's Trump Impeachment Coverage | 10.28.19

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Monday announced that the full House of Representatives will hold a vote to affirm the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump she began on September 24th, in the hope of getting greater cooperation from the administration with the probe.

The White House has argued that the committees Pelosi has tasked with conducting an impeachment inquiry are merely conducting ordinary oversight because the full House hasn’t voted to begin an impeachment inquiry, and has refused to comply with subpoenas until a vote is held. A federal district court judge rejected that argument on Friday, although the ruling is expected to be appealed.

While there is no explicit constitutional or congressional rule requiring the full House of Representatives to begin an impeachment inquiry through a vote, it did so to formalize the two most recent presidential impeachments of Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Those resolutions also empowered the House minority with the ability to issue subpoenas and call witnesses. They were approved with bipartisan support by a Democratic House in Nixon’s case and a Republican House in Clinton’s.

By calling a vote, Pelosi hopes to put an end to the Trump administration’s efforts to stonewall the impeachment inquiry. Her statement read in part:

“We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives.”

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham told AP reporter Zeke Miller that Pelosi’s decision shows the White House in the right to resist “an unauthorized impeachment proceeding”:

When is the vote?

The House Rules Committee has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday at 3:00pm EDT to consider the impeachment inquiry resolution and approve it for consideration by the full House of Representatives. That would set up a likely vote on the House floor Thursday, where the resolution is expected to pass given that a majority of representatives have publicly announced support for an impeachment inquiry.

While the text of the resolution isn’t yet available, Pelosi’s statement says it will affirm the ongoing impeachment inquiry; authorize disclosure of deposition transcripts; provide due process rights for the president and his counsel; set procedures for open hearings; and create a process for transferring evidence to the Judiciary Committee in its consideration of potential impeachment articles. 

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons)