The Note: Impeachment buzz boiling over for Pelosi and House

Nancy Pelosi said she's not feeling any new pressure in making a decision.

By
Rick Klein
 and
MaryAlice Parks
May 22, 2019, 6:01 AM ET
8 min read

The TAKE with Rick Klein

In the toggling between "if" and "when" on the subject of impeachment, the "when" side appears to be winning.

A Republican endorsing such a move against President Donald Trump this weekend was a catalyst. So was the Trump administration's refusal to make former White House counsel Don McGahn available for congressional questioning -- a decision that crystalized, for many Democrats, what stonewalling looks like. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been pressured by members of her caucus into holding a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning and facing down her members.

"I think that right now what we need to do is at least be on that track and at least be in the process of impeachment," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told ABC News on Tuesday.

AOC's words matter.

More telling, still, could be those of members of Congress not known by their initials.

Joining calls for impeachment in recent days are Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., a member of the House leadership; Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a 22-year House veteran and a former longtime member of Democratic leadership.

Pelosi said she is not feeling any new pressure in making a decision. But her judgment on this front matters more than ever, for her caucus as well as the presidential candidates inside her party.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

Even those Democrats from the middle of the country, who have tried to stake out a moderate lane in the crowded 2020 presidential primary, are showing zero hesitation to stand with women's health care advocates and bring a political fight against the anti-abortion laws passed in Alabama and elsewhere in the last few weeks.

Feeling emboldened that the average voter is with them, a few such Democrats in the race told ABC News that there is room for consensus, to work across the aisle on the issue, and that there is even room for anti-abortion Democrats in their party. But, they added, if Trump and Republicans want to ban access to abortion all together, they feel confident that they'll win at the polls.

Congressman and 2020 contender Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who once was anti-abortion but flipped his stance, said in an interview that a woman's right to privacy is not an extreme.

"It seems like the right wing is hell-bent on having this as a litmus test -- you don't see a whole lot of pro-choice Republicans anymore," he asserted. "It's just a moderate position that the government shouldn't be involved. It doesn't need to be an extreme position."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., talked about living in a more purple state.

"I think one of the things I've seen in my state is that there are people that hold their own individual beliefs. … But they don't believe that that means you put those beliefs on other people. And that is exactly what this president is done."

The TIP with Armando Garcia

Presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker said he'd flex his executive power on the first day of his administration by creating a "White House Office of Reproductive Freedom."

The office would work to advance access to health care for women across the country, while also seeking to codify rights under Roe v. Wade into federal law. His administration would also reinstate funding for the United Nations Population Fund, which pays for family planning and child and maternal health services internationally. The proposal comes on the heels of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signing the nation's most restrictive anti-abortion law, which bans most abortions and leaves no exception for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

Booker and a number of other Democratic contenders rallied outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday to denounce what they see as a troubling trend in dialing back women's reproductive rights.

The senator from New Jersey said he aims to "undo the damage the Trump administration and Republican state legislatures and governors have caused."

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Wednesday morning's episode features ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce, who asked lawmakers about the growing calls from Democrats to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump. Then ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks tells us how 2020 candidates from so-called, "purple" states are approaching the abortion debate. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. ABC News Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams joins "Powerhouse Politics" to talk about the legal issues surrounding possible impeachment and congressional oversight. He also speaks to ABC News Political Director Rick Klein and Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce about his new book, "Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense: The Courtroom Battle to Save His Legacy." https://podcasts.apple.com/mn/podcast/powerhouse-politics/id1086758563

ABC News' "The Investigation" podcast. Following the release of the Mueller report, congressional committees and various state attorneys general continue to investigate the Trump Administration, various Trump business-related matters and the Inaugural committee. "The Investigation" co-hosts sit down with a team of experts who break down everything you need to know. ABC News' Trish Turner, Terry Moran, Katherine Faulders, Matt Mosk and Aaron Katersky join the podcast for analysis and insight into all of the impending congressional hearings and court battles from Washington to Trump's hometown of New York. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-investigation/id1451340105

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • President Donald Trump will meet with Democrats at 11:15 a.m. to discuss infrastructure. At 3:10 p.m., the president will attend a Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor ceremony. At 7 p.m., Trump will join a roundtable with supporters at his hotel in Washington before delivering remarks around 7:30 p.m.
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold a closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday morning to deal with new pressure to go forward with an impeachment inquiry of the president.
  • Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., discusses how to end gun violence at the Block Academy in Chicago at 10 a.m. (CST)
  • Pelosi will speak with Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, during the organization's conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington. Stacey Abrams, founder of the Fair Rights Action, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti are among other conference speakers and panel participants.
  • Rep. Gregory Meeks and the Queens County Democratic Party hosts a "fireside chat" with South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at LaGuardia Community College at 1 p.m. Then, at 8 p.m., Buttigieg participates in an interview with Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post at Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York City.
  • Presidential candidate and former Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., campaigns in the western half of Iowa.

    • Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive it every weekday.