Getting closer

Just days into the long summer recess, a number of House Democrats have endorsed the drive to impeach President Trump, inching the number of supporters closer to a majority of the House Democratic Caucus in what could pose new challengers for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her bid to defuse the effort.

Supporters of the impeachment strategy had predicted support would only grow as lawmakers traveled home for the six-week break to gauge the temperature of voters. And they haven’t been disappointed.

On Monday, Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.) and Dina Titus (Nev.) endorsed the push, joining at least a dozen other Democrats who have signed on since last Wednesday, when former special counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress.

  The Hill

Hopefully when they're out of the bubble that is DC, they'll hear enough constituents asking for impeachment to give them courage.

That list includes a pair of freshmen — Reps. Mike Levin (Calif.) and Kim Schrier (Wash.) — who flipped Republican-held seats in last year’s midterms; Rep. Derek Kilmer (Wash.), who heads the centrist group of New Democrats; and a member of leadership, Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the vice chairwoman of the caucus.

Other lawmakers signing on in recent days are Democratic Reps. Lori Trahan (Mass.), John Garamendi (Calif.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (R.I.), Ann Kuster (N.H.), Chris Pappas (N.H.), Suzan DelBene (Wash.) and Denny Heck (Wash.).

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That means pro-impeachment Democrats are just a dozen votes shy of 118 — a “majority of the majority,” or more than half of the 235 Democrats in the lower chamber.

It’s likely impeachment backers will reach that symbolic mark in the coming days or weeks. Heck, for instance, said there are “at least” 20 to 30 on-the-fence Democrats seriously considering their endorsement heading into the long break.

[...]

[S]ome supporters of an impeachment inquiry cautioned against reading too much into the 118-vote milestone; 218, the number of votes needed to formally launch the inquiry, is the only number that matters, they said.

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Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is going a long step further. On Friday, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee announced an effort to secure grand jury information underlying Mueller’s investigation by specifically referencing impeachment as the basis for the court request.

Nadler has reportedly been at odds with Pelosi over whether to launch an impeachment inquiry in his committee. His latest strategy keeps impeachment near at hand without launching the formal process — or forcing uncomfortable votes on vulnerable colleagues before there’s more public support for ousting the president.

“My personal view is that he richly deserves impeachment. He has done many impeachable offenses. He's violated the law six ways from Sundays,” Nadler said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program Sunday.

“But that's not the question,” he added. “The question is, can we develop enough evidence to put before the American people?”

Yes.

UPDATE: