Jerry Nadler, who has been fighting Trump for literally 40 years and whom Trump in the 1980s identified as one of his most hated politicians in the whole country, now top Dem on the committee that could oversee impeachment https://t.co/Fazn28X7FX
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) December 20, 2017
Greg Sargent, in the Washington Post:
The Post’s Paul Kane reports this morning that despite their rhetoric downplaying this possibility, House Democrats are privately preparing for a possible effort to impeach President Trump, should they regain the majority.
That’s excellent news. This is exactly what Democrats should be doing — right now.
Not just because an impeachment battle might actually happen, but also for another reason: Democrats will need to find a more effective way to talk to the American people about the serial degradation of our democracy we are seeing in the Trump era, for the good of the party, yes, but also for the good of the country…
… To be clear, I’m not necessarily saying impeachment is merited right at this moment. My position aligns with the persuasive argument made by Benjamin Wittes and Jane Chong that there are ample grounds for beginning a formal congressional inquiry into possible impeachment, based on the sum total of Trump’s multiplying fields of misconduct.
Publicly, Democratic leaders are urging the rank and file to play down any talk of impeachment, out of fear that it might be perceived as overreach. But there is no reason for Democrats to be apologetic about preparing for possible impeachment in certain plausible scenarios, or to shy away from treating that as a legitimate topic of public debate…
House Dems will hold a press conference today to announce their support for Mueller, will also announce a letter of support signed by 171 members of Congress.
(Between this & Warner's speech yesterday, Dems seem really worried Trump will move to fire Mueller over the holidays.) pic.twitter.com/0o8riJtETb— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) December 21, 2017
.
With that being noted, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
***********
As a further leading indicator, on the other side of the aisle, Sen. Chelonian hastily pulls extremities into shell…
McConnell: Welfare & entitlement reform not on 2018 agenda via @axios https://t.co/pmuE5XDjTR
— Justin Green (@JGreenDC) December 21, 2017
McConnell tells NPR that Obamacare repeal is probably DOA in 2018. “I think we’ll probably move on to other issues.” https://t.co/Ak6RHfoI9W
— Blockchain Weigel (@daveweigel) December 21, 2017
Thursday Evening Open Thread: Dems Will Be Ready, When the Time ComesPost + Comments (129)