A leading congressional Democrat is breaking with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the latter threw cold water Monday on the possibility of impeaching President Donald Trump.
Democratic Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth said Tuesday on CNN’s New Day that while Pelosi made some “valid points,” he disagreed with her ultimate conclusion. (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Doesn’t Want To Impeach Trump: He’s ‘Not Worth It’)
.@RepJohnYarmuth says he disagrees with House Speaker Pelosi remarks that she’s “not for impeachment.”
“I think we are essentially in the beginning of an impeachment process. … I happen to believe there is sufficient evidence of abuse of power,” he says. https://t.co/anSwOS61Pu pic.twitter.com/L1Y9rFywCH
— New Day (@NewDay) March 12, 2019
“I fully understand where speaker Pelosi is coming from. She makes valid points,” Yarmuth said. “In my opinion if impeachment is to mean anything, and it’s in the Constitution for a reason, it’s because when we see evidence of impeachable offenses we need to start the process to remove the president from office.”
The veteran lawmaker, who is the chair of the House Budget Committee, added that while there isn’t enough support for impeachment right now, the process is inevitable.
“I don’t think right now there’s any way that we could 218 votes on the floor of the House for an impeachment resolution, but I think that’s not a matter of whether, it’s a matter of when,” Yarmuth said.
U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) arrives at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol January 4, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Pelosi made clear Monday that she has no plans to impeach the president, at least yet, calling the process divisive. (RELATED: WaPo Interview With Pelosi Doesn’t Touch Anti-Semitism Furor)
“I’m not for impeachment. This is news. I’m going to give you some news right now because I haven’t said this to any press person before,” Pelosi said. “But since you asked, and I’ve been thinking about this: Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country.”