House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) held a brief press conference to announce a new bill. She did not go into much detail about the status of the impeachment inquiry, but she promised more details later in the day. This press conference was to make a different announcement.
Pelosi announced a new bill, The College Affordability act. The Los Angeles Times reported that the House indicated that:
‘Over 44 million Americans are struggling with $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. Today, House Democrats are introducing the College Affordability Act. Thank you to Chairman Bobby Scott, whose persistent, relentless leadership has made this historic day possible.’
She said that the advantage with this version of The College Affordability Act:
‘The House was going with a more modest version, because they believe they can get it passed.’
The speaker continued, adding that it was a “very progressive bill.” Pelosi said that she particularly liked the community college aspect of the College Affordability Act. Then, she referred people back to the Democratic campaign promise “for the people:”
‘Many of our young people need skills to increase their income. ‘
Pelosi and the other Democratic leaders have been looking into how much support they had for an impeachment investigation. The inquiry has already been underway, investigating through a series of depositions in the House Intelligence Committee. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) has been leading the inquiry.
Even though the House has been out of session for the past two weeks, members had been checking in with their own constituent to see where they were regarding the impeachment of Donald Trump. The Dems have also been evaluating the polls.
Speaker Pelosi said they had not decided whether to hold a vote or when. However, after she meets with the Democratic members, she would be better able to evaluate that and would make an announcement shortly. The House does not need a vote to carry on with the impeachment.
Earlier in October, Pelosi had been asked why the House did not take a vote. She responded:
‘That’s not anything that is excluded and, by the way, there’s some Republicans that are very nervous about our bringing that vote to the floor.’
A House vote would give the Democrats more power to investigate, but it would also empower the Republicans. There is no way that Pelosi would take a vote unless she knew how each one of her members would choose.
The Republicans would “have more at stake,” for those moderate seats, she said:
‘But Republicans may have more at stake. Only eight Democrats have not publicly supported an impeachment inquiry. All of them represent districts that Trump won – and five of them are districts where Trump won substantially, by more than 10 percentage points.’
Representative Max Rose (D-NY) was cheered during a town hall meeting after he announced for the first time that he would support the impeachment hearing.
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order
