Anti-Trump lawmaker Rashida Tlaib says her fellow House Democrats are 'moving toward' consensus on impeachment proceedings against president
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib said more Democrats are 'moving toward' a consensus that President Donald Trump should be impeached
- She was one of the first Democrats to call for Trump to be impeachedÂ
- 'We can't be able to do our jobs if we don't hold him accountable,' she said
- Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to hold back the impeachment tideÂ
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the first Democrats in Congress to call for President Donald Trump to be impeached, said Sunday that more Democrats are 'moving toward' a consensus on such proceedings against the president.
'It is moving towards that. It's going to demand that. It already is,' she said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'
'We can't be able to do our jobs if we don't hold him accountable,' she said.Â
Rep. Rashida Tlaib said more Democrats are 'moving toward' a consensus that President Donald Trump should be impeached
She was one of the first members of Congress to say President Donald Trump should be impeached
'This is not about the 2020 election,â€? she noted. 'It’s about doing what’s right now for our country. This is going to be a precedent that we set when we don’t hold this president accountable to the rule of the law and to the United States Constitution.'Â
Tlaib, after she took the oath of office in January, vowed Democratic House leadership will impeach 'motherf***er' - in a reference to Trump.
She has beat the impeachment drumbeat as Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tried to hold back that tide among her Democratic lawmakers. Â
The Michigan Democrat countered a major argument from Pelosi, who has told her party to let the six House committees investigating Trump's businesses, tax returns, administration, and actions in the 2016 election finish their work first.
But Tlaib argued the traditional method of congressional oversight - subpoenas and committee hearings - isn't working.
'The traditional congressional oversight process isn't working,' she said.Â
Share this article
Trump has fought off subpoenas for his business records, his taxes, and for his administration officials - both current and former - to testify.
Although two court decision last week came down in favor of Democrats. Trump is expected to appeal.
A federal judge in New York on Wednesday refused to block subpoenas from House Democrats for Trump's financial records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One. Earlier in the week a judge in Washington D.C. ruled Trump's former accounting firm Mazars would have to comply with a subpoena from Democrats.Â
Matters came to a head for Democrats last week when former White House counsel Don McGahn, at the White House's request, refused to comply with a subpoena for his testimony on Capitol Hill about the Russia investigation and his testimony outlined in Mueller's report.
His move infuriated Democrats and led Pelosi to call for a special party meeting to tamp down on the impeachment talk.
While she has held off the impeachment calls - for now - a subsequent war of words between her and Trump saw relations between the executive branch and legislative branch hit a new low.Â
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been trying to hold back the impeachment tide in her party
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a staunch Pelosi ally, also appeared on 'Meet the Press' to make the case for waiting out the House investigations into President Trump
Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of the Republican House leadership, said Pelosi is losing her grip on her party
Tlaib, who came into office after the 2016 election which saw Democrats retake control of the House of Representatives, said that was a sign the public was on their side.
'The majority of states across this country saw an huge historic turnout of people coming out to vote for the first time. And I feel like in many ways that's a referendum to stand up to a bully, to a president that subverts the United States Constitution every single day,' she noted.
Congressional Republicans also have gone on the attack.
'What I see every day is a Speaker of the House who is increasingly losing her grip on the leadership of her conference,'Â Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of the Republican House leadership, said Sunday on ABC's 'This Week.'Â
And Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Trump, warned Pelosi she would be committing 'political suicide' if she started impeachment proceedings against the president.
'She knows that impeachment would be political suicide because there's no reason to impeach the president,' Graham said on 'Fox News Sunday.'Â
But one of Pelosi's staunchest allies was also out to make the case for waiting it out.
'Democrats can sing and dance at the same time just like Beyoncé,' Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a member of the House Democratic leadership told NBC's 'Meet the Press.'
'We don't work for Donald Trump. We work for the American people. We have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on a potentially out of control executive branch. But we will not overreach. We will not over-investigate, we will not over-politicize that responsibility. We will proceed as Speaker Pelosi has eloquently laid out, methodically yet aggressively to get to the truth,' he said.
