Under-siege Dems in Trump districts keep impeachment decision close to the vest Fox News, Dec 12, 2019
WASHINGTON — An all but inevitable House floor vote to impeach President Trump is poised to come down to a few dozen moderate Democrats who, under heavy and sustained pressure from both sides of the debate, are staying steadfastly mum on their decision.
“I will not operate on anyone’s timeline,” said freshman Rep. Max Rose, D-N.Y., who is a prime target of GOP efforts to either kill impeachment or at least encourage Democratic defections. “I will not operate on pressure from anyone.”
Rose is among the 31 House Democrats from districts where Trump won in 2016. Those swing districts were critical to Democrats' winning control of the House last year, and now those members are needed by the party leadership if Trump is to become the third president ever impeached.
Rose announced he was against impeachment in the wake of the Russia report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but then supported the inquiry over Trump’s request for Ukraine to investigate Democrats. Whether he and other swing-district Democrats would extend that support to impeachment itself remains unclear, and may continue to be right up until the floor vote.
“We have to give this the level of thought and analysis and judicious consideration that it is deserving of,” Rose told reporters Tuesday.
Fellow freshman Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., also hasn’t said how she’ll vote. Slotkin, who penned an op-ed with six other freshman Democrats to help launch the impeachment inquiry, said her constituents expect her to make an objective decision.
“I’m not waking up in the morning looking for a golden poll,” she said Wednesday.